As I sit here at this expansive, live edge table, in this outdoor living room, listening to the Zumba ladies dance up a storm upstairs, I wonder if I am on the right path. Am I to go dance? Maybe I need to write and work on my photo editing? Or do I do nothing?
What am I supposed to be doing?
Answer I get: nothing.
Do Nothing. Be.
Being is a metaphysical doing. Maybe that feels better? That could be a more helpful way to look at it? We relate so much more to doing, than being, right? Doin something, anything, no matter how mindless seems to ‘be’ the way. A misguided way of being.
‘The being’ is the most human thing, activity, accomplishment you can master. Being present and in a resting state allows you to look within yourself. It opens up time (maybe even a portal of sorts) to glimpse all that you are beyond illusions, beyond your limited beliefs, beyond all your current experiences.
Ok. Be the spider.
Follow that flow. The spider has woven the web and is sitting, waiting, doing nothing.
As the spider weaves his Maya (web), so we weave our human waking dreams, every day. We tell stories, we repeat them and we forget to let them go. Our stories tangle us.
Be the spider: weave and then stop. The spider is not concerned with the web being broken. When the winds and storms break up his web, he just starts weaving a new one.
Are you able to weave a new Web each and every day? Do you get stuck in your old web, your old story? Most likely, you are tangled up in your old web, in the old Maya, in your old illusions. You are probably dragging them into today, with your thoughts sticky and taped up on top of each other. You have become the thing stuck in the web and forgot to start fresh, weave anew.
It’s time to sit. Do nothing.
Bring all that you are into the future. Let your breath be the storm, the wind, the cleanser. Clean up your home (your mind). Cleanse your internal environment. Watch thoughts come and go. Be present to perceiving and receiving.
To Remember Your Human means to remember you are human. Be fully present to your feelings, thoughts and body. Likewise, it means you learn how to remember your humanness, your humanity, your human way.
In this era of AI, AIG and AGI, you must choose awareness daily. With artificial intelligence added to everything from simple apps to household appliances, you can no longer avoid its presence. Be the light and choose to be fully here. Awareness is the way. Remember Your Human is the way.
What does that look like to you?
Live Fully Now🪽
We live in a world of speed, processing and automation. While we are programmed like machines daily, in contrast, remembering your human is to embrace art, creative work, breath, movement and play.
You already know how to live fully – just remember! 🪽
Being fully human invites you to enjoy more flavours, diversity, spices, nature, music, dance and pure joy. Need help to Learn this? 🪽Start with booking a call.
Growing Awareness. 🪽
At the Healing Muse, we open our hearts to love, kindness and compassion along our path. While we may stumble, we remain humble and continue, step by step. Always, start with yourself.
We practice daily. 🪽
If you need a helping hand choosing awareness:
Start with Online Life Guidance Sessions. Each session is 30 minutes.
Maybe you need a helping hand listening to your heart?
Deep Dive into Self Awareness and Your Mind & Body Connection
Intuitive Healing Sessions Online – 60 min
Extended Intuitive Healing Sessions Online Each session is 60 minutes.
Start with this Awareness practice:
Choose to take ownership of yourself Take 100% ownership of every cell in your body with your breath. Breathe in deeply and send light into every organ, every body part, every nook and cranny of you. Sit in the moment, allowing your breath to guide your awareness to what is within.
Benefits of Full Awareness
So, be mindful today that your body is changing. Furthermore, know that your care, your attention, your loving touch, your time and your connection are maintaining and upgrading your body, all day long.
Walk the earthly path with me and grow exponentially. First,we our open heart. Then, we listen to our body; it is always talking.
Full awareness of your choices guides you to:
authentic success
heart felt joy
profound peace
deeper understanding
mind-body health
sustainable wellbeing
Be Inspired through examples in nature
Follow my journey & learn from my experiences, joys, hardships, thoughts and visual explorations. Chances are you will be inspired to act, to grow, to learn. (And maybe save yourself some heartaches and hardships!)
Practical Guidance for You
Ultimately, I strive to support you with Inspired Living tips, life guidance and practical workshops. Let me be your guide on your daily life walk.
Try This! Smile for Wellness. Then, share and Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for Inspired Living. Your mind and heart must be good friends for you to prosper on every level of being. Of course, it also feels good to practice this!
Between the valentine cinnamon hearts, gold and red dragons of Chinese New Year and family weekend getaways, there is a little known and seldom celebrated personal getaway to indulge in this winter: Adult Time-Out.
This month, I invite you to discover this simple yet effective healing technique. Save yourself from undue stress, winter blahs and even work burnout.
Take a time out today.
Embrace space, the final frontier. The word ‘final’ may seem so final. You are right. It is. As a healthy, mature adult, you surely recognize that certain times in your life you must take a step back, if you want to keep moving forward. You need a break. Hit pause on life. Embracing this moment of space in time is not about watching back to back episodes of Star Trek. Nor is it about day dreaming of flying through space on the Starship Enterprise, discovering galaxies. Embracing space is the act of embracing emptiness, quietude and solitude in your day. It is you welcoming down time. It is an intentional lack of programming and complete disconnect from the world around you, at least for a short period of time.
But what is space?
Madhya is a Sanskrit word that references the pause or the space between something, like the breath. Learn more about Madhya here.
Can you follow your breath to the end? No. There is no end. Yet, at some point, your inhalation stops and exhalation begins. How does that happen? There must be a pause.
But where is the pause?
There must be a proverbial end to the inhalation of breath. The pause, a moment of moving from inhaling to exhaling, is a moment of opportunity. It is where life is limitless. This moment can be a millisecond, several seconds, up to even three minutes in length. Very experienced divers can deep-dive for five minutes (or longer) underwater, before surfacing for their next breath. (explore deep-diving perspectives here) That is a long pause indeed. We don’t have to take is so far! Just a short increase of pausing 10-15 seconds between inhalation and exhalation and repeating this for five minutes will do. Put a timer on and give it a go. That’s about ten breaths total. It’s so simple, anyone can do it.
This space between two actions, such as in-breath and out-breath, is your personal escape.
It is you choosing an opportunity for deep relaxation, solace, healing and direct stress reduction. Embracing a longer pause in any activity or between activities can shift you from serving to thriving. It can promote a sense of well-being and offers you control over your environment – your body. After all, you are in charge of your breath, the errands in your day and the number of activities on your calendar.
Since it may seem daunting to reduce events on your social, work or family calendars this February, start with a short time-out instead.
Your time is YOUR TIME.
Your Adult time out can be as simple as ten minutes in a quiet room, focusing only on the sound of your breath and slowing down your breaths to five breaths per minute. In 2018, a systematic review in the journal of Frontiers of Human Science, was titled: How Breath-Control Can Change Your Life. This review of the included studies on breath work, concluded that voluntarily slowing down the breath “increased comfort, relaxation, pleasantness, vigor and alertness, and reduced symptoms of arousal, anxiety, depression, anger, and confusion.”
In summary, Adult Time-Out is good for you.
Slowing down and allowing more space between your actions directly improves your quality of life. Just taking a handful of deep breaths, in a time-out (yes, you can even sit in the corner if you want to) can reduce your anxiety and help you get through a tough day. If you need more proof, read the latest article in Salk News, November 19, 2024: “Neuroscientists discover how the brain slows anxious breathing”. In between ski trips, Costco shopping hauls and running errands, find yourself a little nook hideaway and indulge in a self-imposed Adult Time-Out. It’s good for you.
“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.”
– Etty Hillesum, An Interrupted Life: The Diaries 1941-1943, 1983
Is your life in the fast lane? related blog-read next
“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.” — Joseph Campbell
Spring is the birth, the beginning of a new season. It is the beginning of a new story and life cycle. What is the beginning of you? Was it your birthday? What is your origin story?
For us, spring can be a beginning, a fresh start much the same way it is for our gardens, a blade of grass or baby chicks waiting to hatch.
But before we take on a new growth, it’s wise to revisit our origin. Take a moment to see the path that got you here.
Was your path difficult? Or was it light and easy?
What is worth noting from your journeys? Where the lessons valuable?
As you explore your path, you honour your origin story.
In film and television the origin story is the backstory and summary of experiences that reveal how a character or group of people become a protagonist or antagonist. You are the protagonist in the story of your life. As spring approaches, use this energy to initiate a new stage in your life and begin an new life cycle.
Spring can beckon our spiritual rebirth, emotional and energetic upgrade and mind awakening. You are the lead in your story. As a result, you have the right to choose which way you grow this season.
Birth of all things and your origin story.
East versus West.
In many cultures, your birth determines your life story. Your physical origin, where you were born and when you were born is essential to your identity. In Asia, your birth year and birth sign as well as your family ancestry are tethered to you for life. The stars’ configuration and your astral chart is a template of your strengths, weaknesses and your life journey. Thus, you are your ancestors and so much more.
Do you embrace these origins?
Your life story is closely tied to nature, heavens and the earth that your success is determined (at least in part) by these ties. According to Astrology, all origins depend on time. Asian or Chinese Astrology is Vedic based: defined by nature. Western Astrology is based on the 12 months of the year and follows the seasons.
Our Spring Equinox is heralded as the beginning of a new energy cycle.
The Chinese Zodiac signs are noted in records as early as 5th century BC (Zhan Guo Dynasty). But the Western Zodiac signs and astrological system was also incorporated into Asian disciplines and philosophies as early as 700 AD (Tang Dynasty).
Both systems use time and the cycle of nature to offer insight into what was and what will be. They have been in our modern world for a long time.
Is your destiny written in the stars?
Beginnings and You
Societies around the world celebrate beginnings in a variety of ways. Often, you may hear of a caste celebrating a rite of passage that has no relation to the calendar. You may welcome a 100 beginnings in a lifetime.
In some tribes and cultures, accomplishing a task such as hunting a buffalo successfully, completing a walkabout or reaching a pinnacle point in your life, marks you worthy of a feast. You are honoured with a community celebration.
As part of some extreme mystical sects and monasteries steeped in ancient practices, you may be buried alive (to survive the darkness within and without for 24 hrs) and thus be initiated into a new birth, before you can take your vows. In the Western world, a candle on a birthday cake is often our most welcome annual ‘birth celebration’.
No matter the culture or practice of our origin, we have options on how and when we choose our next beginning. We continually add layers and revising our origin story.
March to a new story.
Springtime is a wonderful time to explore this rebirth, renewal and a chosen new beginning.
Ready to use this season to create afresh?
Create a new story, where you are hero and leader empowered with wisdom, strength and vitality. Why not choose a tabula rasa? Start in a new direction. It’s time you brush off the remnants of yesterday.
Allow spring showers to bloom colourful flowers in your heart’s garden. As spring does naturally, rise up with the earlier morning sun and adopt a new mindfulness practice.
Celebrations to start you off.
Celebrating spring, from a traditional St. Patrick’s Day green pint of beer or painting your face with green Shamrocks, to dancing under the moon during spring equinox, the gardens of spring await you.
Nature is always waiting. Go see her. Walk barefoot in the forest (yes, safety first and look for a clear path or meadow!) Join the many people that celebrate a new cycle and spring in these ways.
Always on time.
But we can choose to celebrate a beginning and ‘new origin of us’ each morning, each hour, every minute. Our cells are constantly dividing, and our body is continually producing new, genetic material and new cells to keep us ticking. This fast cycle allows for the quickest and easiest way to practice rewriting our origin story at any moment we choose.
In the words of Naomi Judd (and many others), “Your body hears everything your mind says.”
What you feel, think and say, your body hears and builds within. The most valuable lesson and invitation of spring may be that we choose to recognize we can grow at any level, at any time. After all, you are growing right now.
Since we are continually renewing, our spiritual birth and rebirth, our story of origin is constantly evolving. When we zoom far out over across ancestry of time and our generations, we see our story of origin is something deeply profound. It is interconnected with very many people in our lives and never fully defined.
Breath Expands
Our story is responds to every breath, to every step, to every path we take. We are the lead character choosing our next adventure. Since there is nothing but our own path, we are always on time to our destiny. We have but this moment to begin again. Spring is simply a vibrant, growing, colourful reminder of our very nature. Inhale and welcome this profound truth. As Jim Kwik writes in his book ‘Limitless’, you are limitless the moment you realize you are always growing and expanding. See the choices before you are unlimited.
With spring in your step, start on your next journey and let me know where it takes you.
Monika Meulman – Your Intuitive Living Guide Online Intuitive Healing Sessions Available email to book: store@healingmuse.com
A leap of faith is the best New Year resolution for you. This year honour yourself with a resolution that is sensible, ambitious and achievable.
Taking a leap of faith requires no actual time or money. It is literally a resolution of belief in something: FAITH. It is elemental in pursuing excellence, success or goals on any level.
Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.
– Rabindranath Tagore
What is a leap of faith if not a beginning into the unknown.
As January unfolds so does a brand new year. We learn to celebrate the last day of each year since ‘we made it through’, some of us with flying colours (What does that even mean? The idiom comes from nautical terminology and refers to times when ships would return home to safety with their flags flying in the wind). By that token, January 1st presents us the great uncharted territory of this new year. Undeniably, we all set sail on the seas of a new year together.
Time is the great equalizer. None of us can set sail on a new day before anyone else.
Want a New Year Resolution that really makes sense? (but does not lean on facts) : Take a leap of faith. I’ll tell you why. Hundreds of programs teach you how to improve your life and this month they are marketing to you, with glitz, glamour, discounts, value ads and all kinds of promises.
“Come get this, buy this, enjoy this, get better with this”.
And on and on it goes. Then, how do you choose which program, latest diet or nutritional supplement will help you get healthy or sleep better? What podcast teaches you the fastest, where do you need to focus your energy?
pausing to breathe in life on top of Bear Wallow Mountain. Toulie and The Healing Muse, lead by example.
Who knows the way?
you must allow time for the view to clear
you must make space for new paths on your life journey
you must invite the way to come to you
When our New Year resolution revolves around a healthy new habit, most of us fail. We fail to follow through on new actions, well because they are new. Often, we fail to reach our goal. Let’s be honest, that’s not a good way to start this year.
Faith is here to save the day (err, year).
When we have faith, we choose to believe we can do something. Action is the key to success. With faith, we also have the strength to believe we can be someone different today than we were yesterday. That is a crucial step in achieving our goal, any goal. In a 2009 JSTOR journal article on Faith and Goodness (by J.E.R. Staddon, Duke University) “Science…cannot tell us what to value[JS & MH may not agree], just how to get it”. In other words, our faith and belief system dictates what we value and the facts around us, the programs, the workshops, the myriad of ‘get better’ options just show us how.
If you don’t believe you can do it…’just do it’ doesn’t usually work.
Without faith in your life, you may feel lost at sea when help isn’t close at hand. To step confidently into this new year, practice faith daily.
How to practice building your faith?
Follow these three steps, action steps.
Clearly write out your belief. ‘I believe I can walk more than 10000 steps a day. I have faith in me’
Set aside 2x a day, everyday when you sit and remind yourself of your faith. Draw on your belief in spiritual origins, your religion, your culture or nature. This is usually in the form of a journal, prayer and/or meditation.
Allow your connection to your spiritual community, religious group or tribe to support you daily, weekly, monthly in meetings and events. Growing your community grows your faith.
taking time to sit with your steps and journalling is worth a thousand and one words.
Note that faith AND action are needed to pursue a target or a goal.
Set your resolution to be: I believe in faith religiously. FAITH and RELIGIOUSLY I pair together to get your attention. Faith is not religion and religion is not faith. They complement each other. To adopt an action religiously means ‘in a regular manner’, choosing this new habit regularly, regardless of feeling, inspiration or motivation. We choose it because we believe we must. That is the fundamental pillar of any goal oriented program.
Whether we have Faith in a particular religion or in nature, or even in science does not matter. What matters is that we cultivate Faith. Just like cultivating compassion helps it grow, nourishing and choosing our faith regularly strengthens it.
With faith in our hearts, or by our side (wherever we choose to keep it) we can excel. Faith is the compass direction for our next step. Before you take on yet another New Year Resolution, I ask you: what do you believe? Do you believe in yourself? How will you define your faith today?
In that answer you will find your ideal first step toward your goal. Cultivate faith today and every day this month and you can guarantee yourself a successful beginning in the year 2024.
Faith is building on what you know is here so you can reach what you know is there. – Cullen Hightower
Monthly natural health and wellness column written for South Etobicoke News. Would you like a natural health focus in your next newsletter, workshop or marketing news? Email me for collaborations, projects, articles.
Learning awareness is not all that natural, but it is learned. We tend to move toward automation and reducing awareness over time. Learning awareness is a practice that we cultivate. A practiced awareness is a skill we use in every aspect of our life. No breath is ever wasted – it brings life. Likewise, no moment dedicated to increasing awareness is every wasted – it brings richness to our life.
Where does learning awareness begin? here (read instructions below)
It begins at the beginning. To get there: Simplify simplify simplify clarify clarify clarify
zen mind is not empty,
it is simply free flowing
it allows us to be aware of the thoughts passing through like cars on a highway.
Learning awareness allows this to be
– The Healing Muse
What is awareness?
the state or condition of being aware; having knowledge; consciousness
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/awareness
Where does awareness begin?
Our heart is the driving force of who we are. But our mind governs what we choose day to day. Let us begin at the beginning. We begin by looking into our mind. How? We look within and take a moment to pause and look around. Simple, profound, doable. All that is needed is: time
Begin at the beginning.
I ask you to step as far back to the beginning as you possibly can, from a simple daily chore. Look at something like washing a simple dish or folding your favourite sweater or brushing your hair. Choose one as a starting point for practising the simplest, most familiar and natural behaviour pattern within you. Do it. Slower. Again with more attention. Attention is the gateway to awareness. Practicing and learning awareness begins like this.
Do it daily.
Need a helping hand?
No matter what path you are on in life, at times you need a helping hand. You benefit from opening to a new way. You thrive by allowing a shift in perspective. It is possible to excel with additional insight. Choose to live inspired with an introspective moment. ——- Let’s do it together. Learn awareness, listening and growth with me, your life guide, an intuitive healer. Simply here to provide insight into your version of Inspired Living.
Eating kale saves you money, grows a healthier you and supports your local community.
Join Monika Meulman, a wellness leader and natural health teacher, on a nutritious journey examining many recent developments in the world of nutrition and nutritional medicine.
Planet Friendly Workshop Includes:
Practical experience
hands-on instruction
taste-testing fresh foods
learning to get your hands dirty in the home garden and more!
Practical, hands-on instruction, taste-testing fresh foods, learning to get your hands dirty in the home garden and more!
This workshop is created for our Earth, your well-being and a healthy wallet. We go over natural wellness basics such as: Shopping with a healthy groceries list; planning meals that save you time and money; what it looks like to be optimally healthy, while choosing green, sustainable and manageable food sources in our every day, and take home a green sample.
