Daily Prayer

I'm a very spiritual (though not religious) person. I bring things into my life that call to my soul, whether they originate in Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Wicca, or what have you, it doesn't matter to me. If it calls to my soul, if it nourishes my soul, if it feels good, then I know that's what I need and I embrace it.

I don't discriminate with soul-food.

I love that Blessing Manifesting is for all faiths, at least I try to make it so that it Universally connects to people regardless of what they believe. I love the 'Namaste's 'Amen's and 'Blessed Be's that people share with me and that everything I do translates for many faiths.

I am entering a soul and spirit phase.

I've talked about how my spirit levels heighten towards Autumn and Winter. I think those are the times of the year where I go into a sort of 'hibernation'. My attention turns inward, I start to really focus on myself and less on the outside, on projects, and on other people. Turning my focus inward definitely allows me to turn my attention to my spirit.

At the beginning of the month I made a promise to myself that I was going to make time to pray every single day, no excuses. So far I've kept to that promise and I've seen some great changes in my life just in the last few weeks, mainly my stress level has gone way way down. Before I go to bed every night I light a stick of incense and then spend a little time talking to Spirit. It always feels like a good chat with a best friend right before sleep and it's become a favorite part of my day.

My challenge for you, if you are of a spiritual or religious inclination, take time out everyday this week to spend time with spirit, whether that means prayer for you or something different. See how it changes things in your life. Connect with that part of yourself. See how it adds a bit extra to your life.

Do you have a daily prayer practice? 

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Do You Celebrate?

The other day I was hunting for incense to burn. I must admit something here, I am a huge incense junkie. At one time I had a collection of nearly 100 scents, all hand-dipped in essential oils and each scent stored in a ziploc bag and labeled.

Anyway, I picked a bag at random and saw that it was one of my all time favorites. Instead of burning one I put it back.

"That one is special. I'll save it for later."

Do you ever do that with random things? I've done it with tea, and clothes, and candles, and lotions, and perfumes, and paints, even books, I kid you not! If there's an author that I love and she releases a book, I'll wait to read it, put it off for a later time, when I need something good to read instead of treating myself to the reading of it now. That situation usually turns into "Why didn't I read this sooner?!"

Sometimes it's good to use those things that you're saving for a special occasion.

Especially if you're one of those people that keeps waiting and waiting until you forget you even have that thing to begin with. Pull out the good china more often than you do. Get dressed up just because you can. I don't think that it takes anything away from the big occasions.

There's something to be said for celebrating the everyday.

To say "this day is good enough just because" is an awesome feeling. Each day is wondrous and magical and extraordinary if you allow it to be.

Do you ever do this? What things do you save for special occasions? 

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What's Your Morning Routine?

Life can be ordinary and still be extraordinary. It's the little things that matter.

I have a confession to make, a few weeks ago, I was a grumpy bear. I'd wake up with a groan, after abusing my snooze button multiple times. I'd lay in bed trying to convince myself that I could get out of bed in just 30 more seconds.

The next few hours would be spent in a haze of grumpiness wanting nothing more than to curl up with a blanket for a nap. When the haze of sleepiness wore off I'd put myself in such a bad mood by that time that it really didn't matter anyway. That set the tone for several days and I hated it.

So I asked myself why I was doing that to myself.

I knew that I was staying up late in order to get more into my day and even though I knew it was having a negative effect on me I did it anyway. Don't you hate when you do things like that? So I put on my big girl panties, decided to change it, and gave myself a mandatory bedtime.

Then I worked on my morning routine.

Creating a nourishing routine changed my mindset immediately. It turned the ordinary mumble and grumble morning into something that sent me to work with a smile on my face and a positive attitude. I allowed myself to wake up after a full 8 hours of sleep, which eliminated the battle of wills with the alarm clock. I gave myself enough time to get ready for work and have a morning cup of tea as well as spend time communing with Spirit.

It was extraordinary. 

My challenge to you this week is try to find away to improve your morning routine. Add a bit of Spirit to your morning, add a few minutes to appreciate the fact that you woke up and it's a new day and you're here to experience it.

How can you improve upon your morning routine?

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The Little Beautiful Things

I absolutely love this song Beauty In The World by Macy Gray. It's such a good reminder to look for all of the beauty in the world. It's one of my favorite summer songs. Reminds me of taking walks with my mp3 player blaring in my ears and my body moving to the music despite myself.

Summer is full of Little Beautiful Things.

What LBTs have you seen today? There is so much opportunity to notice the little things in life as you go out into the world.

The color of the water in a lake, the way a butterfly flutters around, the feeling of warm rain falling from the sky, the way the sunlight moves through the trees when the breeze blows by. The heavy, lulling sound of insects and birds.

It'll be autumn in a month, so enjoy summer in all its magic and notice all of the little things that are happening in your life right now!

What's one little beautiful thing you've appreciated today?

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Make Your Own Spa Day

Have you ever wanted to have a spa date?

Okay, let's do it!

In your own bathroom! Oh don't groan and roll your eyes. It might not measure up to your 5-star establishments but you can still have fun, you can still be girly, and you can still get your spa on.

Get yourself a nice smelling candle, because you want to set the mood and stuff, then head on over to the frou-frou section of your favorite store.

Body butter, body scrubs, face creams, lotions, oh my! Poufs, sponges, eye-masks whoo hoo! Be indulgent and get a few things.

Want to get a little creative? Make your own. To make your own bath powder, all you need is 1/2 cup of baking soda and 1/2 cup of cornstarch and then an essential oil to scent it (optional) to add to your bath water to soften the skin. Body wash can double as bubble bath in a pinch, epsom salt is also good for soaking, especially if you have aches and are in need of relaxation.

Want more recipes?

Face Mask Recipes
Make-Your-Own Scrubs
Spa Recipes
DIY Spa Treatments

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Let the Sunshine In

Have you ever heard of the term airing-out your house?

This means opening up the windows and letting the sunlight and fresh air in. Letting it swirl around your space, chasing away the shadows, opening up the dark places.

You can shake the dust from the curtains, change the linens, and wipe down dusty objects. It makes such a big difference, it changes how your home feels.

How often do you let the sunshine and fresh air into your living space?

The next sunny morning, open up all of your windows, pull back the curtains, and let the sun into your home for a few hours.

See how it changes the atmosphere. When you go to bed at night see if you can still smell the sunshine on your pillow.

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How Do You Wake Up?

What's your reaction when you first wake up?

Do you jerk awake to the sounds of alarms blaring all around you? Do you, with a groan that sounds like a ravenous zombie, reach over to pound on the snooze button, only to be awakened by alarms a few minutes later?

The word says it all: alarm.

Is that really the way you want to start your day? 365 moments of alarms, frantic beeping, or the radio blaring at you?  It doesn't have to be that way.

Experiment with the noises you wake up to. If you use your phone stray away from the default alarms. Use a ringtone that you like. Pick a song that makes you wake up happy and want to conquer the world.

There's apps for that, there's alarm clocks that will wake you up to chimes or even nature sounds.

How do you wake up? 

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An Extraordinary Ordinary Life

A week ago I was sitting with my friend and we were talking about Facebook envy.

In the past, before the internet, we usually made friends with the people around us, in our neighborhoods, with lives that were similar to ours. The houses looked similar, the people around us made the same amount of money, the kids all played together. How often would you have someone coming over to your house with a bag of polaroids from their trip around the world and the beach house in Maui they just bought?

Facebook changes all of that. We get an inside look at the lives of people all around the world who, without the internet, we'd never get to know. Which is such a crazy blessing, but it has it's downside now and then too.

We get to see pictures of those trips to India, the retreats in Bali, photo albums of the cherub-faced-angels that you never hear of misbehaving, the brand new house that overlooks the ocean and they all make it look so damn easy. If you're just an Average Joe (or Jane!) you might find yourself being a little discontent, wishing your life was more like that.

Facebook envy happens over those magical picturesque lives.

Suddenly you start to wonder if you can really be happy with your normal hum-drum life. The pile of dirty laundry calling your name, the screaming-fighting-in-need-of-a-bath-and-nap kids, the apartment that you can't even call your own because you're renting it, and vacations? Vacations are those stretches of time when you catch up on chores. Tropical vacations? Yeah, you wish.

Your life seems so far-removed from that picture of Facebook Happy.

Then there are the articles, websites, and blogs that tell you that you can have that life if you buy x, they have the secret and they are willing to tell it to you. Buying x can give you that ever elusive happiness. They have the recipe, just give them a few month's rent, stand on your head while speaking in Latin and sacrificing a few virgin princesses while you're at it and you can be happy and rich with a life just like theirs.

That mentality teaches us not to be happy with what we have and where we are.

I want to show you how to be happy in your ordinary life. I want to show you how to make your ordinary life extraordinary. I want to showcase all of those ordinary things that create happiness, because it can be found everywhere, for free even.

Every week I'm going to post an Extraordinary Ordinary Life tip. A simple, easy, reminder for you to do something ordinary and allow it to make your life extraordinary. Those simple joy that get overlooked, the things that make you smile... let's embrace them and love them and be grateful for them.

What ordinary things make your life extraordinary?

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