The Sage

I have been reading a little bit of the Tao Te Ching. Its an amazing prose written by Lao-tzu about 2500 years ago. Its one of those books where it takes you about a week to process each verse, because there is so much information to take in just one. One particular part of a verse that I would like to share, is one that I have began practicing and living by. It holds dear to my heart. 

"The sage can act without effort and teach without words"

When we are truly Being, we are being true examples for others. 

Namaste 

*The picture above is a potato that I got in my weekly co-op basket of organic veggies, cool, huh =)

Knowing yourself

This past weekend I went to the I Can Do It! conference presented by Hay House. I saw speakers such as Wayne Dyer, Sonia Chouquette, Gregg Braden, John Holland, Doreen Virtue and many more. This weekend taught me a lot. It gave me clarity when I thought I was already clear. One main point that everyone was talking about was releasing the ego, and connecting with your inner self again, reconnecting with the Knowing that you came into this world with. Finding your God self. This is in no way the religious sense, it's a spiritual sense of finding God. For God is not an external entity, but an energy that resides in all of us. We are all the creators and play an integral role in this universe, but first we must be aware of it and acknowledge the God within us. Namaste!

Helping others

What does it mean when we say we want to help somebody? How far can we really go? Does it mean that we have to be completely involved in people's lives and get stressed out when we see that they're not doing what completely serves them? The answer is no. If we really want to help somebody the best thing that we can do for them is to be an example. To show them that they can have a beautiful passionate balanced life. In essence, to really help someone is to really help ourselves. If we are able to create the beautiful life that we dream of, then that gives somebody the motivation to do so as well. I encourage everyone to be a positive example and allow yourself to live that beautiful life. Namaste.

I just gotta be me

 I was never one on writing my bio, but knew it was an important part of "getting yourself out there". So I set out to do it. I had a list of criteria that I thought people would want to know about, my education, my experience, my credibility. By the time I was finished I had a nice short sweet paragraph. Thats all! I was sure I could squeeze more out, but nothing. I went through my list of criteria again, I got it all, there was nothing more to say about me until I was on a call for one of my classes in Creating Confidence. The instructor asked one of us to share our bios we were working on . Of course you could hear crickets chirping over the vast phone space. I spoke up and volunteered to share the bio I had been working on. After I was finished and I might add very nervous for putting myself out there. My instructor added, "so where are YOU" in the bio?" I was caught off guard, what does she mean? She stated again that the paragraph of what I have accomplished in my life was great, the schooling, the certifications, but where was I in all of this. How are people really going to know what kind of experience and work they are going to receive if they do not know me. The "Ah Ha" moment came swiftly and immediately I said, my work comes from the Heart. I am here to help people from the Heart space to connect with their Heart space. This is who I am! I had had fear of bringing too much emotion into my bio, but my work IS emotional. My work is Spiritual, loving, nurturing, and energy centered. It is my essence that was missing in the bio, my Being.  This is what people will truly connect to. I feel confident about this now and will soon be putting up a new bio on my website. One that exudes the energy of who I truly am. Stay tuned!

It is how it is

For the past month I have been planning a vacation to Key West with my boyfriend. I booked the cute little B&B, looked into fun trips like snorkeling and a sunset cruise. It was all set. All I had to do was wait for it to come. For the past month I felt as though I as trying to accelerate the time, just so our vacation would come. I am not sure what I even did. All I could think of was going away. A week before our trip I was checking the weather every day making sure that nothing could get in the way. As Friday Aug 15th came to a near, I got even more excited about the 4 days of fun ahead. That Friday morning we packed up the car and set off to the Keys. We had about a day and a half of fun filled Key West before we had to evacuate on Sunday morning because of  a fierce Tropical storm that was headed our way. I was so bummed. I really was, and I totally was not fun to be around after that. I brought that energy into my being. Not good. When we finally came home all I could think about was how our vacation got cut short and how all I wanted was to be on vacation. I mopped around at home a bit and then I realized that this was totally not fun and I needed to snap out of it fast. I drew upon the teachings of Eckhart Tolle.  I told myself I need to just accept how it is now. There is nothing I can change about the situation, all I can do it just accept it and experience it. There is always something to learn from this. The storm was still coming, the evacuation happened, and there was nothing I could do about this. Something else I learned was  I was focusing so much of my happiness on this vacation. That I forgot to live every moment up until my vacation and there after. Maybe if I was living every moment in the now, I would have not felt such a let down. I could have just accepted the circumstances and continued forward with every moment. Something to really ponder on, its very powerful. 

Another great tool when you feel as though you are let down or your energy is not up to par. Write out a list of at least 5 things that you are grateful for. Whether its from your day, vacation, week,etc.. Here are mine for my beautiful Key West vacation.

1. The people at the B&B welcomed us so warmly 

2.We ate such great seafood.

3. Got to go bike riding around the island and experience all its charm

4. Went on an awesome snorkeling/kayaking/sailing trip.

5. Got to watch a beautiful Key West sunset with my amazing boyfriend.

Its OK to say no..

Yes, it is OK to say no. I have been struggling with this one for a while and though I am better at it than I was before, sometimes I still get stuck.  Well, I just unstuck myself.  I have had a lot going on lately , all good stuff I might add. Yet again I was feeling overwhelmed with some extra stuff I was involved in. My intuition and guidance was telling me I needed to simplify my life. So, I did. I told the director of the Wellness Festival that I would not longer be able to be involved in the capacity that I was. It was so hard for me to do this, I so wanted to be a part, but deep down inside I knew it wasn't for me. So with that said, I let it go and I feel much better. I knew it was the best decision for me and I opened up to the awareness to always listen to myself and know that if I chose to, I can always say no. Its important to not only give, but to receive and sometimes the receiving has to come from YOU, in whatever form that may be, whether its treating yourself to that piece of chocolate, giving yourself some extra time to sleep in the morning, or allowing yourself to have moments of doing absolutely nothing, its really ok. We tend to miss that sometimes. Peace and Love..Rachel 

New Doo

Ever since I could remember I have always had long hair, long curly hair down to my butt. There were moments in my childhood when my mother would cut it short. All I could remember was an afro and let me tell you, I was not one who could pull off this afro doo. I swore I would never cut my hair short and so for the past 20 years or so, it has been long. Until yesterday at 6pm...I am proud to say that my head feels lighter and the Florida heat is not so bad on my exposed neck, there is a nice breeze now. Yes folks, I got a major hair cut and it feels great. I was emotionally ready to release years of energy, years of thinking I would never look good with short hair. I now wear my short hair with confidence. It took me a while to get here and I know it is just a moment for I will constantly be "just arriving" and never actually "getting there". Moving forward on this beautiful path experiencing more moments and embracing all of them with gratitude. I am ready to do this!

Overwhelmingly a blessing

So, for the past two weeks I have been totally freaking out. To say the least I have been overwhelmed. Job, studies, business, life,etc. Lots has been going on and I feel like don't want to do anything. What my mind actually does is a process of elimination. It decides which of the things I am doing is the least important. At least to my mind. So, about a week ago I decided I would be quitting my involvement with a Wellness Festival I am helping out. My mind tried to rationalize all the excuses as to why I do not need this extra time consuming thing in my life. Ive got so much other stuff going on, I could do without one more. I frantically wrote an unconscious email to one of my dear friends, who happens to also be involved in the festival. She wrote me back and told me to meditate on my decision a bit. That there was something more to this feeling. Why did I want to let something go. What was causing this feeling of being overwhelmed? There was something more. I meditated, in my own way, really opened up my Heart to it. Ah, yes my Heart. 

When I opened up to my Heart, the feelings of being overwhelmed subsided and I was able to see clearer. I immediately was able to get done and manage the things I was feeling overwhelmed about. I was able to more forward and everything came together as it should. Not only do I play a great role in helping with this festival, but its plays a great role for me. Instead of feeling pressure, I saw the beauty of it and how it coincides with my life purpose and passion. My mind did not want to see that, my mind wanted to suppress and keep me in my box. So it created this feeling of being overwhelmed in order to keep me in check. Knowing that I would want to quite, because I have done it before. But my Heart is limitless.

There are times when we get stuck and we lose ourselves completely to our minds. Most times running around in circles, creating the same patterns. I am grateful for having such a beautiful friend to remind me to check in with my Heart, when I have moments of unconsciousness. This is why the roles of friends, family, coaches, teachers, etc are so important. I extend an invitation of gratitude from my Heart to my friend. Namaste. 

Feels good!

Hello everyone, instead of doing a "new beginning" introduction. "Hello, my name is Rachel Eva, this is my first blog, I am blah blah blah..." I'd like to jump right into what is NOW. The present moment. I have embarked on a new journey in my life. I guess its the same journey, just a different part of it. I am beginning my education for Spiritual Life Coaching. You might say, but Rachel, you are ALREADY doing the work. Yes, your right, I am, but there is ALWAYS more to learn. Even the best teachers are always someone else's student. I am excited to bring an added application to the work that I love so much and do. Let me tell you. It feels so good! I hope that you can feel it. Everyone has the ability to open up to their Passion and Life Purpose. With that said I would like to pass on this feeling to you with the intention that you too can have that feeling about everything you do in life.

Peace =)