Sunday, September 29, 2013

GreAt-FuLL

“There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.”
Hey funfreemfollowers!
Hope this blog finds you in a hApPy space! I have been doing a lot of reading lately about being thankful (aka grateful). 
I can remember when was a kid believing that a lot of times, other kids had all the GooD StufF like cool clothes (which in my day was red-tag Levi's--don't you dare wear the orange-tag Levi's!),  parents who gave them everything, expensive shoes, awesome vacations, and the list goes on . . . I know you are thinking OMG she must be SoOoooooOO oLD! But really now, times haven't changed that much (although the "stuff" has changed a lot . . .). 
instead of wondering 
where your stuff is? 
or 
expecting someone else to give it to you?
painful :( ],
do you ever
. . . pause. . . 
to be 
gRaTeFuL
for what you DO have, 
AWESOME! ;) ]!
Hmmnnn . . . maybe we can switch our attention away from what is painful to what is awesome! How? . . . here is my first vlog . . . (apologies for the roughness...) about just that!
Being GRATEful is GREAT!
I am so thankful for all of you!
With so much love and gratitude,
Dana

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Go WithIN ...

hAPpY sAtUrDaY ffpps!
   The last few days have been thinking a lot about peAce, and how to calm ourselves  and become present enough to get quiet and clear . . . so we can JuSt Be . . .

We can get quiet and get present in a lot of ways . . . I think I've described meditating (below is a turtle meditation about getting quiet within yourself . . . like a turtle goes into it's shell!:)  

Sometimes, going inside (like a turtle) is so necessary . . . either to protect yourself  from people or situations with gross, icky energy; just to check in with yourself to refuel and get your "stuff" back together; to calm down; or to just rest. Isn't it nice to know that you can do this FOR YOURSELF whenever you want? Whew! and YAY!

I totally believe in breathing deeply, laughing, doing your passion, and spending time with children and pets! There are many ways to experience peace (and it ain't outSIDe of yOu!); PEACE is an INside job! 
Sometimes going out into nature is the best remedy for finding peace; when I want peace, I can go for a walk, look at the trees, smell the flowers, and feel the wind. 

Take a few minutes today to find a little piece of peace . . . 
Have an amazing, fun-filled day (and liFe!)...

pEaCe iN!
;) dana

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Love YouR LIFE!


deAr funfreeMepeeps!

This amazing reminder landed in my mailbox this morning from one of my favorite tweeters, notsalmon.com---check her out! She's so super groovy & inspirational!


Her post reminds me how important it is to take beautiful care of me and to keep all the promises I make to myself.
So, here are some promises I would like to keep to ME!
  1. Be present when I am with my children.
  2. Hug my kids and tell them how much I love them.
  3. Get enough sleep.
  4. Be a good teacher!
  5. Hug my students and tell them how much I love them (WARNING!--POLITICALLY INCORRECT...oh well...)
This is kind of random, but I also promise myself that I will put lotion on my skin every day, look into the sun and counting my blessings, and thank God for my beautiful (and imperfect) life!

I am learning from everything!
Love you so much!
dAnA

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

FeeL iT!


“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. 
Conscious breathing is my anchor.”

Dear fun&freeFEELers!

If you've been following my blog for awhile you may already know that sometimes, I get on a bit of an emotional roller coaster (uNdErStAtEmEnT . . .).

First, a wave of
overwhelm, fear, & sadness
kind of takes me over for a few days;
and soon after that, I may feel pretty
anxious & panicky
for a time.
WheW! And guess what? To be honest, in the past,
feeling stuff
has not been something I have been very open to or good at.

I  still sometimes have a little overhang from just feeling, as in,
I still get a bit emotional and well, . . . reactive.
(I'd like to shout out to my best friends here for hanging in there with me . . .YOU ROCK!). 

Of course this video from the Chopra Center landed in my mailbox this morning! It's about how to feel and release extreme emotions in 7 steps. CHeCk iT oUt!

Spiritual Solutions: Extreme Emotions
TheChopraWell

Here's a recap of the steps in BLaCk
  1. Take responsibility for your present emotions
  2. Witness what you are feeling
  3. Label your feelings
  4. Express your feelings
  5. Share your feelings with someone you trust
  6. Release toxic emotions through a ritual
  7. Celebrate the release of the feelings
I personally love when stuff is laid out in steps, and looking at these, I feel like the most challenging ones for me have been---well, . . .

ALL OF THEM! but especially 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7. It's funny and great that we get to keep learning, if we're open to the lessons. Anyway, I am growing so much! So grateful to be sharing it with you!

LotS of hUgs!
;o})  dana 

Monday, September 2, 2013

LovE iT!

love.jpg
Hey fun free folks! 

Have you ever noticed that many people spend a lot of their time focusing on things they don’t like or what bothers them. Sometimes, we are that person . . . either focusing on negative stuff about ourselves (mean inner (S)ELF) or other people. If we don't catch it, this behavior can drain us of our energy FAST!!!! Today let's celebrate: 
WhAt We LoVE!
I personally like to write stuff down in a journal every day. Do you have a journal? If you want, take out a piece of paper and for each category, list three things you LoVe; otherwise, just think about the stuff on this list.

activities you LoVe:
foods you LoVe:
people you LoVe:
books you LovE:
songs you LoVe:
objects you LoVe:
3 things you LovE about your life:
3 things you LovE about yourself:
Did you know that our thoughts make a huge difference in how we feel, and if we choose amazing thoughts, it can help us feel, well . . . amazing!
 What if: Every time you felt mad, or irritated, or even sadlonely, or tired.  .  . You looked at your list of things you LoVe and chose to focus on being psyched for all the good stuff  instead of being miserable?
What amazing shifts might occur?
Just sayin'...
Lots of LoVe!

Dana