Tag: #adventuresisters #livethelifeyoulove

We have already won

emyminzel

Tomorrow Adventure Sister Stacy and I will find out if we win a publishing contest we submitted our book trilogy in. We have been so busy with other parts of our lives that we haven’t had time to worry or concern ourselves too deeply in the outcome. Although we both sincerely really want to win this contest, we are detached from fixating on the win.

Our success does not rest on winning a contest. Our success lies within the people we help, the readers who enjoy our work and get joy from our message. When we started our joint literary adventure, we were very clear with each other that we truly wanted to help others find joy in their lives.  We have both been through our share of tough times and we wanted to share with others how we chose to cope, heal, and rise above to make it through to today.

The community we build on acceptance of being authentically you, doing our best to level up in our lives by being better and doing better, while seeking joy in our lives every day, even the crap days, is exactly what we wanted to create.

We wanted to create a non-judgmental community of authentic, great, and magical in their own way kind of people, that are willing to accept and cherish others for their differences. The Adventure Sisters celebrate uniqueness. We celebrate eccentric and unconventional people who do what they can to truly stay authentic to themselves while being the best person they can be.

When deciding to write these books of lessons, we kept in mind that most people at the core of their beings are good. Keeping this in mind, we knew that even those with the best of intentions make mistakes in their lives, including us! We believe that in general, most people are doing the best that they can in the time and space they are given when on the journey of life.

This gave us strength to be brave enough and support each other while spilling our guts, our dreams, our fears and our feelings out on to the pages of our books. We keep our Facebook posts and blogs positive because we know that the world is bursting with stories of the opposite. We are fully aware of the energy we send out into the world with our words. This makes us hold each other to not higher standards necessarily but to the standard of joyfulness, to do our best to be the light in the dark.

We see the good in the world because we are looking for it. If we can’t find it, we create joy ourselves. We don’t need music to dance, we beat to our own rhythm inside, we radiate with joy because that is what we also need to feel in our own lives. We understand that winning a contest would indeed be exciting and joyous for us both. We also believe that life will support us on the path to our highest and greatest good.

If we win, we will be ecstatic and overwhelmed with thankfulness! If we do not, we will not be discouraged. We will keep on, keeping on! Because that is part of the adventure too. Together we have learned to trust life to bring us exactly where we need to be. This literary adventure has brought Stacy and I closer than we ever were, I can truly say that I now love my friend/soul sister as if she is family. I view this relationship alone as a giant blessing gift wrapped just for us inside our joint journey.

This is the magical stuff of life. Starting out in the deep forest of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, two hippie chicks just looking for enlightenment one portage at a time, has led us to situations in our lives we would have never even imagined. I believe we will succeed, it may not look like what we think, but I know that no matter what… it’s going to be fabulous, because we will make is so!

Thank you for reading my blog and following the Adventure Sisters as we reach for the stars. We hope that you will learn from our wins, our losses and enjoy our unique views on the world around us. I cannot wait to share the next steps of our adventure with you!

Sending you love, luck and most of all JOY!

Wishing you an abundance of love and blessings,

Emy Minzel ~ Adventure Sister

https://emyminzel.com

@emyminzel

Follow the Adventure Sisters on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/BWCAdventureSisters

Stacy Crep ~ Adventure Sister

https://stacycrep.com

Flawed perfectionist

emyminzel

One week into the Adventure Sisters 90-day meditation challenge, and I am not failing but I am not doing as well as I hoped. I am not smoking, which is a great thing, and one of the reasons why I decided to jump on board the 90-day experiment with Stacy. I am doing things to manage my stress in healthier ways then I was a week ago. I’m not meditating like a monk yet…

Do I really think it would be possible to learn to mediate like a monk in a week? Why do I set such unrealistic goals for myself? I mean, Monks dedicate their lives to the spiritual practice and I seem to think I can master it in 90 days or less!? Come on girl!

This is not unusual behavior for me, yet when I choose to let the world know what I am up to; like weekly reporting on how I am progressing on the meditation challenge it becomes clear. Things that I didn’t see, are blatant and suddenly coming into my perception. Hello, my name is Emy and I am a flawed perfectionist. I don’t like being so particular all the time, it makes my life more difficult than it has to be!

Today I had a meeting with a wonderful woman I met on the campaign trail. It was about a thirty-minute drive to meet her, so I took the opportunity to turn the radio off and not meditate of course but relaxed and focus on my breath work. I OM’d down the road for fifteen minutes.

It worked, I felt calm when I got the meeting, and we had lovely conversations. Today is not a stressful day. It was very nice actually, yet as I write to report back about my meditation experience, I feel like I could have done better. Not because I am stressed but because I missed a day or two over Mother’s Day weekend.

I had company and a fun filled weekend that didn’t leave much time to meditate. I did still take a few minutes before I got out of bed in the morning to gather my thoughts and say thanks for the day ahead. This really does help me adjust my attitude for the whole day.

Yet I am having trouble taking the time for myself to ‘check out’ relax, or step outside to clear my mind. Behaviors that were cloudy now become clear. Now that I know I like to clear my thoughts while moving my body or being outdoors I can move forward with making sure I schedule these things in my day.

This realization that I don’t make time for myself, will change how I will be implementing my plan going forward into the second week of the meditation challenge. I am choosing to schedule me-time and take it. I will make sure I put it at a specific time that will work the best for me on that particular day, so I am more inclined to achieve my goal.

One day it maybe morning the other may be afternoon or evening. There is no right or wrong time or way to take a few minutes to clear my mind, relax my body and check in with my soul. I will release the thought of perfecting meditation or how I think it looks and just do what feels right for me.

I do feel less stressed then when I started, and that’s a good thing.

How is it going with your attempt at our 90-day meditation? Are you doing well? Are you struggling some like me? I would love to hear from you.

Wishing you an abundance of joyful blessings,

Emy Minzel ~ Adventure Sister

https://emyminzel.com

@emyminzel

Follow the Adventure Sisters on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/BWCAdventureSisters

Stacy Crep ~ Adventure Sister

https://stacycrep.com

Enjoy Life!

emyminzel

This past weekend has been full of family, friends and love. My mom came to stay for a visit and we had my neighbor over for dinner. The next day we went out with my best friend of 29 years to play bingo on her birthday. Today is Mother’s Day, I woke up to the dishes done and the animals all fed because my daughter took care of it for me.

My mom and I are going to go flower shopping this afternoon, which is a tradition we both enjoy very much. I love it when life sends me a whole weekend full of blessings. It was busting with love and friendship all jam packed with laughs and memory making.

Sometimes it’s okay to leave chores unfinished, it is okay to leave the to do list sit unchecked for one more day. The good stuff of life comes when it is here, and we must seize the opportunity to enjoy it or it will pass without us.

There are many days that seem to all look the same, going to work, coming home, doing the same chores year after year, week after week and day after day. If we don’t grab the special times and enjoy them thoroughly they will pass, leaving us with a life of work and chores! No, thanks.

This is not the kind of life I have any interest in creating for myself or my family. When my mom is visiting I like to enjoy our time. I choose not to worry about the stuff that doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of life. Once in a while we need to remind ourselves what is truly important.

P.s. it is not work, and it’s not chores or your to do list. These things are just things. I have learned people are important, connection is important, making my relationships and fostering more love and enjoyment in my life, this is what is important.

Everyone around you will benefit from participating in life to the fullest. I have found when I am “here and now” that it helps my spirit feel connected with those I am spending time with. I have a nurturing soul that cherishes connection and feeling like I am doing my part in creating my life experience for the better.

Taking pleasure in life’s small moments like sharing morning coffee with my mom and daughter, oh man… This is the stuff makes my heart smile.

I know we will look at the pretty flowering plants that my mom and I pick out, we will see them all summer long and as months go by we will remember our day together. I will remember that this weekend she won BINGO two times in a row! I will remember time spent with my longest time friend on her birthday.

I will remember my daughter being her super sweet self. How she took care of the small stuff this weekend, that would bug me if left undone. She knows this about me, I like things just so, and I appreciate her effort to help me very much. I feel loved when she shows she cares in these small but meaningful ways.

I will remember roaring laughter at the kitchen table with my mom, daughter and neighbor. It was as if the house was rumbling with much needed girl time therapy, deepening relationships, making soul connections.

I will remember that this whole weekend, because I chose to be present, invested and here. All in, all weekend.

Where are you today? Are you thinking of your to-do list ? If so, make sure you write, ENJOY LIFE right on top of that list!

Wishing you an abundance of joyful blessings,

Emy Minzel ~ Adventure Sister

https://emyminzel.com

@emyminzel

Follow the Adventure Sisters on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/BWCAdventureSisters

Stacy Crep ~ Adventure Sister

https://stacycrep.com

Meditation contemplations

emyminzel

Seemingly, I lost my meditating mojo… the last week has been fun and busy with campaigning. Yet, on Monday, I forced myself to lay down to quiet my mind even though I had a lot to do. Tuesday, I visited the state Capital and was out in the city most the day.

I did have some quiet time while sitting in the park at the capital across from the food trucks. I sat on a park bench, trying to breathe deeply while relaxing my mind. This worked for about one minute. I cannot relax in the middle of the city.

When I got home I just wanted to unwind, drink some wine, eat some pizza, blog and go to bed. That’s what I did. Even though I enjoyed these meetings and activities, I am only human, and I do need some quiet time to myself or I feel anxious.

Wednesday I worked all day then had a great DFL meeting that kept me out past my bedtime. Wouldn’t you know it, even though I was tired as I crawled into bed, I could not fall to sleep until after 2am.

As I lay there, meditating, breathing, tossing and turning like a rotisserie chicken, I thought “this is so weird, I know I am a professional at this sleep thing, get to it!”

When I have a ton of things to accomplish I stay awake in bed thinking about them, so I don’t forget. Even though, I have seven lists on my desk… so I don’t forget. I know I am not alone on this.

I was laying in bed for hours, doing every meditation technique I could think of, I still could not calm my mind enough fall to sleep.

This meditating the stress away is harder than I thought it would be. I have stress on top of my stress and now I feel stressed about not being able to release this stress. I will be checking out a few of the Mediation Apps Stacy recommended!

Today I am going to try a different technique. I am going to do a walking meditation and I am also going to spend some time in my garden freeing my asparagus patch from the weeds that intrude every spring. Spending so much time in front of the computer is starting to get to my spirit.

I realized that I like to move, it occurred to me that I like to move because it calms my mind.  I like to pick weeds, plant flowers, cook, walk the dogs because being out in nature is healing for me. Even if I sit on the porch with the laptop while I write, I seem to feel much more relaxed.

The point of meditation is relaxing so that you lower your stress level. I was trying to ‘fit it in’ when really, I found that, I do my best first thing in the morning when I wake up, if I take ten or fifteen minutes to give thanks for waking up and decide that I am going to have a great day.

This gives me the opportunity to decide how my day will look instead of absorbing the vibes of others throughout the day. When I decide today is going to be wonderful, productive and pleasant the moment I wake up. I then my brain responds to make it happen.

I will keep this habit for the rest of the challenge because it seems to work the best on my attitude about how I perceive the schedule of my day. If I ‘think’ its going to be stressful, then I manifest myself a difficult day. When I decide I am going seize the day, I do. Things seem to fall in line, I get things done and my anxiety takes some time off.

Even though I am no Yogi, I have learned what type of meditation or activity makes me FEEL the best. What I can do to effectively reduce the anxiety I feel during my day is not what I thought it would look like and that is great! The more you know the better you do, right?!

How are you doing managing your stress? Which apps do you find the most helpful? I would love to hear from you!

For Meditation App reviews check out Stacy’s blog at stacycrep.com

Namaste!

Wishing you an abundance of joyful blessings,

Emy Minzel ~ Adventure Sister

https://emyminzel.com

@emyminzel

Follow the Adventure Sisters on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/BWCAdventureSisters

Stacy Crep ~ Adventure Sister

https://stacycrep.com

Meditate the weight away?

emyminzel

Adventure Sister Stacy texted yesterday and told me she is starting a 90-day, daily meditation challenge to see if she could reduce stress. Her reasons being that stress causes us to produce too much cortisol. The hormone that makes you retain weight around your middle.

Stacy is a holistically trained RN and Yogi with an abundance of knowledge on how the effect our mind, body, spirit connection can truly change your life. Hence the meditation weight loss experiment/adventure. If we can meditate a short while every day for 90 days, we may have success in managing our stress and our weight.

I asked if we could do it together to keep each other accountable. We both had the same reasoning for doing this 90-day meditation stress reducing adventure, we wanted to try relaxing extra pounds of stress away in a healthy way.

I thought. “You know what? I’ve tried crazier diets. Let’s give this one a whirl!”

I had another reason, I used to smoke cigarettes…. I absolutely one hundred percent without a doubt in my mind know that smoking is one of the most destructive things you can do to your own body. I have started up again randomly here and there to deal with stress. I am not proud, I wanted to stop.

I am an intelligent person. I know this is not good for me in anyway. I decided this old habit of stress management is not acceptable. I am in control of how I choose to relax and manage stress. I am choosing to cope with my stress in healthier way! If I can lose weight well that would be great!

Besides, I used to be good at this meditation stuff. I would even add chakra stones, and sound healing to my meditation practice. I could let my mind wander and relax for an hour or more. Now, life has me chasing my tail on the campaign trial, while working and writing. The time I have to myself lately is far different then I have been used to and it is causing me stress and anxiety.

I started the mediation adventure on Monday. I had a campaign team meeting scheduled at my house that evening. I had several things to accomplish that day but knew I had to get my meditation in. Stacy and I had not talked about the amount of time we would dedicate to this experiment. We knew that we would both do the best we can in the time and space we are given.

As late afternoon approached, and I knew I must get my meditation in before team arrived. I am so thankful and blessed to work from home. I was not in the relaxing meditating frame of mind so decided to put on a beauty face mask that required me to lay down on for twenty minutes or it would fall off…. I was basically forcing myself to lay down and relax.

As I laid there I thought, “I can do this.” Approximately two seconds into my meditation, my thoughts started up.

“I have to write that phone script, I have to email my team, I have to make sure dinner is made, I have to do, to do, to do… blah, blah, blah….”

I decided to focus on breathing and counting my breaths in and out.

“I cannot let stress win. The timer on my phone is going to go off any minute, right? I have things to do.

Relax gosh darn it…. Sigh…. I used to be good at this.”

I was able to relax my mind after a few minutes. It is not important to not think at all. That’s almost impossible for most of us! It is important to calm your thoughts and not respond to them with emotions that get you feeling uneasy. Meditation is easier for me when I have a mantra that I repeat to myself to keep my mind from wondering so I did that.

“I am peaceful, I am joyful, I am love.”

The first day of our 90-day meditation adventure was a good experience. They say when you don’t have time to relax. That is exactly when you need to relax! As a massage therapist and energy worker I know this is true. I must practice what I preach and treat my body, mind, and spirit connection with respect if I want to feel my best.

Yet, I just can’t believe how uncomfortable it is to relax somedays!

I can do this, I need to do this for myself. It is going to be a challenge fitting in time to reflect when the list of ‘to do’s’ keeps getting longer. But I guess that is the whole point. Taking care of myself by managing my stress should be on the list every day too.

I feel I tend to put other people and tasks ahead of my needs and I will not continue that. I choose take time for myself so that I can be the best me I can be.

We would love to hear your meditation tips if you choose to take the 90-day meditation challenge with the Adventure Sisters.

We are going to blog once a week about our mediation results so please make sure you follow Stacy’s blog at stacycrep.com

Namaste!

Wishing you an abundance of joyful blessings,

Emy Minzel ~ Adventure Sister

https://emyminzel.com

@emyminzel

Follow the Adventure Sisters on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/BWCAdventureSisters

Stacy Crep ~ Adventure Sister

https://stacycrep.com