(This is a guest post by Lindsey Lewis, yoga teacher, life coach and founder of www.libreliving.com)
It’s a funny thing about giving. Even though my life is about being of service, even though everything I do to create a living and a life I love stems from helping other people do the same…I still (STILL!) get all caught up in focusing on getting what I want. To name a few: I want to change the world, reach the world, be free and in love with the world and help others do the same. How does this all play out? I want to continue to build up my coaching practice and my yoga teaching—and can you already feel yourself getting a little more tense as you read that? Me too.
Self-Realization
Focusing on what we want doesn’t do us any good. This is NOT to say that we don’t dream or create or manifest. We just approach it in a different way. WIFT. That stands for ‘What’s in it for them?’ In all honesty this concept was a radical introduction in my life—totally new to me and foreign and hard to understand. I’d spent nearly all my late teens to early adult-hood focusing on what I wanted, on my dreams, on setting goals for myself and racing towards them, slicing through anything that got in the way. I was determined, dammit, and nothin’ was gonna stop me.
That worked for small goals: things like getting my first ‘real’ job, ascending up the job-ladder, and bringing major projects to completion. But bigger goals—things like, oh, wanting to help people transform the world, be free, be strong, be healthy and happy and LIBERATED? Not so much.
Yoga = liberty
It means freedom from the constraints of thought- and small self-induced guilt, anxiety, stress, worry, and separation from ultimate peace and joy. And living yoga means living from that place of unity. So ‘What’s in it for me?’ gets transformed into ‘What’s in it for us?’ And I noticed I was starting to sink into more emphasis on ‘What’s in it for me?’ right about the same time a friend of mine talked about spending the evening of the full moon getting all intentional about what she’d do as it started to wane. And then, totally unconscious of the poetry of it all, a gift floated into my head: 20 Days of Giving.
20 Days of Giving
Inspired by Shel Silverstein’s book, The Giving Tree. I’m going to give something every day. Something tangible: like clothing, or food, or money. Something less tangible: a hug, a smile, a seat on the bus, or my spot in the grocery store line.
December 5 to 25. One thing a day.
Want to join me?
It’s no big thing. Just something small.
It’s a huge thing. It could change your/the world.
If you dig this, will you help spread the word?
Facebook post: I’m joining the #20daysofgiving Challenge. Wanna join me? http://libreliving.com/coaching/20-days-of-giving/
Twitter: I’m joining the #20daysofgiving Challenge. Wanna join me? http://libreliving.com/coaching/20-days-of-giving/
Much love,
L
I love this idea and honestly I’m on the same page! On Monday I started #BelieveInKarma http://www.creativesoulinmotion.com/2012/12/believe-in-karma/ – it’s all about giving to one another and showing more compassion, generosity and love throughout the month. It’s wonderful that we’re all creating ripples of love… I wonder how far they’ll go. Namaste.
Yoga and Coca Tea go a long way!
Coca tea, made from the leaves of the coca plant — which is native to Central and South America — is one of many tea products purported to help you lose weight. Like many similar products, it does have some properties that can help you drop those unwanted pounds. However, your results will be more impressive if you couple using the tea with a dedicated program of diet and exercise.
Coca leaves are rich in micronutrients called alkaloids which are an important factor in lipolysis, the process by which your body breaks down fat into energy. Drinking a beverage rich in alkaloids may accelerate this process and help you to lose weight.
Inulin is a powerful stimulant, and the active ingredient in coca leaf tea. Like other stimulants, it can increase your metabolism so that you burn more calories throughout the day. It may also reduce your appetite so that you eat fewer calories. This combination of effects makes it more likely that you will achieve the negative calorie balance necessary to shed fat and lose weight.
Many diet teas, including coca tea, contain catechins which inhibit your body’s ability to digest and process fat. The bulk of research supporting this claim has focused on how catechins can improve your cholesterol count, but the same inhibition may mean you take in fewer calories from foods rich in fat.
Personal trainers recommend drinking a zero-calorie beverage before each meal and as your primary response to snack cravings. This practice can help you control portions by filling your belly with a substance that has no fat. Drinking coca tea can accomplish this, so long as you don’t add sweeteners.
http://nutriperu.com/product.php?id_product=1392