Here is an example of our Practical Needs not being met:  loosing our jobs, not knowing how we are going to pay for our debt, maybe we are fighting with a loved one and therefore our relationships are suffering. When situations like these take place we can get knots in our stomachs and can’t stop thinking about it.

What can we do? The good news is our Practical Need does not stand alone, we have the other two as support structures. We go into our Foundational Need by exploring meditation, positive thinking etc. then our structural support comes in to play because we have a healthy body to pick us up and move forward. The time to worry is when all three are out of balance and none of the needs are being met.  Self-Care helps to keep us engaged in our life beyond our external life and bringing us in touch with our inner life both physically and metaphorically speaking.

Here are some Self-Care options for you to choose from, I ask you to try one for a week and then let me know how you feel if you notice anything different.

• Meditation – Sitting in silence for 3 minutes a day
• Lay in a Restorative Pose for 5 minutes a day. Description below.
• Breath Awareness – In hale 1,2,3,4 Ex hale 1,2,3,4  count up to 10 breaths.
• Take a Yoga class – Beginners or Basics even if your advanced student.
• Fitness – run, take a Zumba class  get moving
• Wash your feet before bed or after work

Try one of these for 7 days and journal what happens in your life even the most simplest of things may shift. Be open to receive some of your needs being met.

*** Restorative Pose: Prepare  with yoga mat, two blankets and a pillow. (If you don’t have a yoga mat it’s ok. Use your blanket.)  First lay the yoga mat/blanket on the ground  then sit with both legs straight in front of you have the second blanket folded and placed behind you so you can rest your head on it. Lay your self back so you spine is resting on the floor, grab the pillow and place it on the top of your thighs or on your belly. Place your arms along your side palms facing up, if you have an eye pillow place it over your eyes. Breathe…

This also fed my structural need, the need to helped, supported loved, believed in, cared about, confident, the list can go on forever. It was today that I realized how the layering in of self-care through Urban Zen was designed to do for me and I want to share with you my discoveries so that perhaps you can experience some form of deep Self-Care.

Structural needs are the most evident because it relates to our mind, body and emotions. As I learned in UZ when our Structural needs are met we feel healthy, happy, calm and relaxed. When they are unmet we may feel unhealthy, agitated, unhappy, fearful, and even lost. The needs also run the risk of becoming habitual because they are so obvious, imagine what happens when you shed the light of awareness on them?

The thing to remember about Self-Care is that it is not self-ish, treating yourself to a practice that creates sustainable energy is helpful to all those around you. If your better than they are better, it’s a ripple effect like skipping a rock along a still lake.

Foundational needs are what you might imagine the foundation of everything else in our lives. Growing up my mom would go into her special chair in the morning and do her morning mediation or payer. I remember I liked going in there with her while I was still half a sleep because the energy of the space was so peaceful. It helped me develop my personal foundational need.

Foundational element might be what we call spiritual state of consciousness or a deep experience. Foundational needs are at the center of who we are, choices we make having to do with how our lives how we create life with integrity, honesty, expression. As I learned in Urban Zen Foundational needs are perceived viscerally as feelings of deep unnamed satisfaction when met, and a real sense of void when unmet.

Foundational needs are tied to a deep sense of well-being and pave the road for us to truly care of our selves which then opens the door to truly care for another. It can be abstract like a beautiful painting in fact a beautiful painting can meet your foundational need. It is connected to something deeper inside other than surface satisfaction. For me when I see the color of the ocean the turquoise blue sincerely takes my breath away. When ever my husband and I go on a vacation my first choice is the beach because it feeds my foundational need.

I recently had a friend who was fired from her job, mind you she was not happy at her job and her Foundational needs were not being met it still was a shock to her system. Letting go of attachments and the rewards that she was accustomed to as a result of ignoring her deeper foundational values was harder to change but once she was let go from her job the illusion was lifted and she was able to find some true happiness and is now creating a career that not only meets her Practical, Structural but now her Foundational needs also.

Listen to your intuitive sense and find the love within your heart. In yoga at the end of my sessions I often bow to the TRUE TEACHER that lies with inside of my students although I am there to guide them through the asana practice it is the inner teacher that is their true guide. Today, I ask you honor your truth, your inner teacher and listen to what your foundational needs are.  You may discover that your are more awesome than you thought.

There many ways of practicing self-care and in its simplest form it means to take care of ourselves but when you peel back the layers there is a realization that most of the time we don’t take care of our TOTAL Selves just the surface self. Plagued with anxiety, stress, poor nutrition, insomnia, exhaustion, and even constipation all leading to one thing… ILLNESS.

I  have been working at Beth Israel for a few months now journeying from floor to floor seeing different kinds of people with different kinds of illnesses the one thing they all have in common is the fear of not getting well and the frustration of being in bed.

Physical, spiritual, and intellectual balance can often be overlooked when this happens one can see the decline in their healthcare. I once had a friend remind me that our bodies first start with a whisper until there is REAL problem then our bodies SCREAM for our attention.

Yes checking off your “to do list” or what I call “get to list” does feel good in its own right however, it feels even better when you have mastered the “to do” that has to do with your well-being. Your time with your children, mate and other important people will become more meaningful because you’re in balance.

Self-care could be just another bullet point on your to do list or you can create new patterns into your life that now include Self-Care as way to maintain sustainability, longevity and  balance.

Taking time every day to live in the gratitude of your life is away to stay connected to being grounded and relaxed. We are over stimulated in this society it could be nice to just hug a tree.

Yesterday I was at Beth Israel working on the Oncology floor and I walked into the room of this sweet older lady she must have been 89 years old and her eyes were filled with worry. My heart sank and I felt like I was staring into the eyes of my own grandmother with my training at Urban Zen we have been taught not to get caught up in the story but to just be there hold space for the person. I did just that but I also really wanted to give her big hug and tell her you are loved. So, remember to tell the persons you love that you love them because you never know when you may lose that chance.

Peace

Reprogramming that is what  my computer needs because when your mother in-law tells you that your computer is slow something is not right. It got me thinking about the correlation to the workings of the brain and how it is often compared to that of a computer and our mind software needs updating. The question is how is that done?

I was watching a documentary on George Harrison the topic that most intrigued me was when he found meditation and the profound affect it had on him. The understanding of what it means to truly silent the mind to a point of no thought kind of like a the stillness of a great lake at dawn. The silence of thought opens the mind to be able download new intelligence which is the upgrade that I was feeling. By utilizing this metaphysical tool a person is able to be clear about what it is they want to bring about in their lives in other words they are able to clearly manifest their dreams.

This week is a great time to revisit what your currently manifesting in your life and decide if it is truly what you desire or being created by default, if it’s by default then you’re not being a participant in your life. Trust yourself believe in your dreams and make great things happen like only you can.

Peace -

However, I too am struggling with shifting my perspective on somethings in my life and I get a little disappointed in myself just like the next person.

fengshe.org Metaphysics.

However, I have what I call my Mennaphysical Toll box, I have shared with you before. In this box I keep my personal philosophy for approaching life as it pertains in moving me into a positive direction, I keep my yoga practice, my meditation, aroma therapy and my breathing tool.

When I was a server at some of the top restaurants in NYC I use to go to the bathroom and take a moment to myself it always helped me in those moments when a customer maybe stressing me out or when I was slammed with tables. I could not wait till things calmed down so I could take 5. I wasn’t a smoker so I didn’t have the same excuse but I would find ways take that time for  myself  just like the smokers.

Having these tools is a way to self-care so that you can keep from stressing out and instead find a balance on the those not so good days. For today commit to yourself that you are taking 5 minutes off as an offering to yourself.

I want to hear how your experience goes.

“THE SECRET” Shelley and I both giggled with “yea, it’s good we have seen it.” But what is great about when someone finds anew in a something to me that was old is that I find it a new again. Which is perfect for Manifest Monday because putting to work one’s imagination and vision brings results, we are constantly moving into the next moment so use this mennaphysical tool to create your vision.

Close your eyes lets your hands rest on your thighs roll your collar bones back to allow your shoulders to rest on your upper back. Feel as though your spine is connected to the root of your seat and to the ceiling. Whisper to yourself and ask “What is my vision?” just observe what comes up. Note any feelings, shifts in your body, does your heart rate build, does your breath change? The builders of New York City both from the past, the present and future are able to hold their vision, build a team to see it through and then manifest it. The question is “What do you want to build?”

I have always thought I needed a mentor for my yoga and for my production business and for many years searched and searched for that person until I finally realized maybe I am my own mentor. One of my clients put it best “I have Book Mentors.”  I hear especially because I am in the yoga world “All that you need is right with in you” I even think that this is what Yoda says to Luke in Star Wars “harness the power, Luke” or some thing like that. You are the person inside all you have to do is walk through the open door and become aware of your personal mentor.

Harnessing the power on this phenomenal friday has been really eye-opening because a few of my clients and friends are going through hard times right now. The information I share with them is to stay grounded believe in your self believe that everything in your life has led you to this precise moment and when you truly need yourself to step up to the plate she/he will just be grounded and open.

How has today been a phenomenon for you?

Peace:)

For today, take a Mennatation day and apply one thing into your day that is a form of self-care. If you can’t afford a massage, or a mani/pedi, then just find 7 minutes by yourself and leave your phone off or in the other room.

Grounding Mennataiton

Sit on a chair or even the toilet place your feet on the ground sit straight up place your hands on your belly and breath into your hands then exhale. Relax the skin on your forehead, let your jaw hang like a hammock. If you have an ipone a nice app to use is INSHIGHT, it has a nice ding sound from meditation bowls set the timer and when that 7 minutes is up you will feel a little lighter, a little better, and able to think clearer.

Have a great Mennatation day!