Uncontrollable but Controllable Mind

This day and age, we become so consumed and distracted by the outside world and all its glorious drama. The depressing news, workplace gossip, life stressors (especially financial), etc. We use and over use our logical minds to analyze all situations to the point where it often drives us mad. Hours go by and nothing is accomplished except for sitting in the same spot, zoned out in our inner world. Mindlessly watching tv or online movies/shows while playing games on our phones or thinking about what all we need to do tomorrow. So many moments are wasted dwelling on these repetitive thinking and behavior patterns, next thing you know, a whole week has gone by and nothing is accomplished.

The problem is the disconnect between our minds and hearts. Our minds are off running around uncontrollably with no guidance at all, like a child that’s had loads of candy released to run freely in a toy store. You try to focus but the phone rings, you want to see what’s about to happen next in the movie, or you get the notification that your lives have been restored in your favorite game app. Or maybe you’re stuck reviewing the situations of the day, processing what happened and what you could or shouldn’t have done. Ultimately, living in the present moment is non-existent. Instead, you’re caught in a cycle of the past and future life while time runs by you like it’s on fire and trying to jump into a lake.

This is the moment where you grab control of your mind to bring it back to the present moment. When you first realize you’re steering your mental car without a steering wheel, hit the brakes as hard as you can and tune into your body. What is it feeling? What does it desire? Is it hot or cold? Does it feel hungry or full? Listen to your breath for a few moments. Is it shallow and fast? Is it slow and deep? Or is it fluctuating in a random pattern? These are important questions to ask yourself, it’s also a way of bonding with your body while focusing and controlling the mind.

Use your breath to regulate the rest of your body, it may sound strange but is the golden key to taking control of the present moment when it seems to be running away from you. Practice deep breathing as you inhale to the count of three while visualizing your lungs filling to capacity, then release to the same count and see your lungs completely deflate. For extra measures, you can visualize inhaling peace, love, tranquility, joy, etc., while exhaling worry, stress, negative thoughts, and everything that does not serve your greatest good. Powerful, powerful, powerful!

Just like your body takes in air and converts it to useful, life giving energies, consciously use the power of your mind-body connection to do the same. You are the creator of your reality and the Master of your experiences, completing an exercise like the one described above, can propel you into a state of peacefulness. Make it your own by incorporating phrases, mantras, affirmations, etc. Inhale, “I accept all the love into my being,” exhale, “I release all of my fears and doubts.” The possibilities are endless so, take that control, bedazzle it up to your liking, and take control of your mind and live in a peaceful present moment!

• Cassondra

The Winds of Change

Oh, the winds of change are upon us all, whether we’re ready for it or not. With 5 planets in retrograde, energies are running rampant, so much that it often seems to have you running head first into a brick wall. Change isn’t easy on a regular day but man, retrograde life can be quite the beast sometimes. How does one make it through the astrological, energy storm? Well, it starts with a desire to make it through!

It’s easier to sit back as life beats you up, just sitting there having moment after moment of bizarre events, setbacks, random obstacle pop-ups, etc. Many will just take the “woe is me” approach and voluntarily bend over and let life take what it wants. Others, decide to fight back and dive head first into the trenches to fight the war. Or, if you’re like me, you end up riding a roller coaster of life that has ups and downs, spirals, loops, and many, many zero gravity drops. The high peaks are grand and the drops are brutal, but moving forward is the key.

Persistence, will, and hope are key survival elements when all seems lost. Persistence helps drive you, will help keep you grounded, and hope is that twinkle in your eye that says “hey…that light at the end of the tunnel is always going to be there and waiting on you.” The combination furnishes a dynamic trio of power, innate gifts that we all have inside of us. It’s all a matter of being aware of these elements and using them for your benefit.

A big strategy is to never accept failure, regardless of what happens. Even if something doesn’t go your way or how you set it up, take A moment to see the lessons in the situation. What you learned and what you could’ve done differently are not to be used to put yourself down, it needs to be used to build yourself up.  Change your thinking and take something positive from the situation. Yes, that may be easier said than done but putting forth the effort and succeeding at it, will be incredibly rewarding, liberating, and emotionally freeing. As the saying goes, you only fail if you don’t try, so try to pull that positive out.

Embrace the winds of change, open your window and let the breeze come on in. Change is guaranteed to happen, no matter what. How you respond or react to the change, has a clear impact on your experience. Some people have a bad breakup and go through a grieving process, become bitter and angry, slide face first into a depression, etc. It often becomes a hodgepodge of emotional conflicts leading the way down a long path of hopelessness, resentment, and heartache. These are just a few of the infinite possibilities of growth from the situation. But…What to do, what to do???

Well, for starters, you can accept and experience the emotions then find the positive spin on the situation. Did you experience personal growth? Did you overcome the abusive relationship and start walking a Warriors journey? Did you recognize you have an unhealthy relationship pattern? Perhaps you have deep trust issues and didn’t realize it until your relationship ended, you would’ve have known until the 14th time you accused him/her of cheating (when they truly weren’t). Even realizing that he/she never valued or appreciated you is a positive takeaway, you should feel proud of yourself for knowing that you deserve more out of life.

Dealing with change is never an easy task but you can always counter it and make it work for your greatest good. I recently had my car broken into at a movie theater and work laptop bag stolen, it contained my tax return printouts so the culprits had all the information needed to potentially destroy my life and credit. When I parked, something told me my car was going to get broken into, I shrugged it off and didn’t listen. I got out of an awesome movie and, unknowingly, into a situation where 9 cars were broken into and mine just had to be one of them. Ughhhhh, right?!

That situation totally freaked me out and the days that followed were continued stressful moments. My gut told me it was going to happen but I didn’t listen, that was a valuable lesson to learn despite the unfortunate situation. I didn’t realize just how distrustful I was of my instincts and intuition until this situation. I now approach the moment with an attitude of gratitude, my intuition is spot on and I’m truly appreciative for that.

Turn those moments of change into a WIN, don’t be consumed by or caught up with others’ opinions of the situation. You don’t need other people to validate anything in order to make yourself happy or to feel better about the situation. The process starts within yourself,  you are the key to limitless power over everything that comes in and goes out of your life. The winds of change may be a soft, gentle breeze or it can be a hell storm with hurricane-force winds, either way, your response and reactions are the keys to survival.

• Cassondra