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How to Rediscover Life’s Magic – Part One: How Present Are You?

August 2, 2011 by Nicola Walker

In my last post, What Happened to Life’s Magic?, I wrote about how I suddenly lost my sense of magic in life. Everything became very flat, and to my alarm, simple things that used to give me pleasure didn’t seem to do so anymore. Fortunately, I turned to my inner wisdom for help. The first thing that I was directed to focus on was my attention. Where was it?!

I realized that my attention was focused on my worries and concerns. The challenges and problem solving I was facing at the time led me to focus more on my concerns than simply being present in the here and now. My energy was caught up in my head, with my thoughts, instead of being present throughout my body.

It may sound like a subtle distinction because we all face challenges that we need to deal with. But all you need to do is set aside time to deal with whatever’s bothering you, then let go of it and return to enjoying the present moment.

Here are a few questions you can ask yourself just to see if you do let go of your challenges:

How much time do you spend feeling flat and uninspired?

Are you someone who often replays past events, cringing because of something you said, or fretting about something someone said to you?

Do you sometimes find yourself impatiently counting the days, months or years until a certain longed for event happens?

When you focus more on the future than the present, or more on the past than the present, you have a strong sign that you need to put your attention on finding life’s magic again. Now.

Magic happens in the present, and you need to be present to enjoy it.

Here are three steps you can take to step fully into the present:

1.         Slow down and take some deep breaths.

2.         Feel your feet on the ground and feel the ground beneath your feet for at least a minute.

3.         Move your awareness into your body, your legs, your pelvis, your tummy, your chest, your shoulders, your neck, your head and your back and your arms and hands.

Notice how being present feels different to how you were feeling before you took this three steps.

When you slow down, you feed your soul.

You create your future from what you think and do in the present. So the present moment is truly sacred. To experience true inner happiness, you need to be present and to embrace the present.

 

Nicola Walker, apricot top, head and shoulders

Nicola Walker is an Anything is Possible mindset coach, with over 25 years of combined life coaching and hypnotherapy experience. She guides people at a turning point in life, to navigate and fulfill their dreams and deepest desires.

Nicola is the author of the forthcoming book, Joy in the Middle of the Mess: An Evolutionary Adventure on the Quest for Success. One of her greatest joys is to walk and hike in the hills and along the beautiful California beaches, near her home in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Subscribe to Mindset & Miracles bi-monthly musings & blog nuggets via email

Filed Under: Loving Your Life Tagged With: create, focus, happiness, life's magic, presence

What Happened to Life’s Magic?

July 26, 2011 by Nicola Walker

Palm tree and aqua seaIt can be quite scary when you feel like the magic has disappeared. Life feels flat, like a corkless bottle of champagne the morning after the night before. Even the little things that used to give you pleasure don’t seem to strike the same chord anymore.

Just recently I was suffering with some health challenges, which I am pleased to say are all cleared up now, thanks to a wonderful acupuncturist I found. My energy was really low, and I had to give up some of my favorite pick-me-ups – cappuccinos, chocolate, wine and cakes and pastries with soft, gooey textures. Ouch!!!

I have always loved the good things in life. I can actually have peak experiences relaxing with a latte in one of favorite cafes. I’ll sit and write, basking in the warm glow of my own heart, gazing up into space every now and then with a smile on my face.

Suddenly, I wasn’t feeling the magic anymore.

Actually, I was also dealing with a few disappointments that triggered up some feelings that made me have to dig deeper to resolve. So maybe it was more than goodie deprivation. But, for a while I just could not find the magic!

How much are you experiencing life’s magic right now?

What makes you lose your sense of life’s magic?

These are good questions to ask yourself, because being receptive to a sense of magic in life is a wonderful barometer for how fully you are living your life.

Living your life fully is not just about world travel, high levels of success or having a great social life. These are outer experiences that can come or go, and do not necessarily give you a sense of magic.

Living your life fully is about being open to the magic of life in any one moment, wherever you are. This is a way of living that opens the door to inner happiness. Another key to living your life fully is to be doing what is meaningful to you, so your heart and sense of purpose feels fulfilled.

So how did I find the magic again?

There were three key things that I did. In my next blog post, I’ll tell you about the first step I took that opened the door to feeling more of life’s magic.

 

Nicola Walker, apricot top, head and shoulders

Nicola Walker is an Anything is Possible mindset coach, with over 25 years of combined life coaching and hypnotherapy experience. She guides people at a turning point in life to navigate and fulfill their dreams and deepest desires.

Nicola is the author of the forthcoming book, Joy in the Middle of the Mess: An Evolutionary Adventure on the Quest for Success. One of her greatest joys is to walk and hike in the hills and along the beautiful California beaches, near her home in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Subscribe to Mindset & Miracles bi-monthly musings & blog nuggets via email

Filed Under: Loving Your Life Tagged With: happiness, life's magic, purpose

What Happens When You Block Your Feelings

April 18, 2011 by Nicola Walker

Sometimes people have told me that they block their feelings and emotions. I can understand the temptation at times, when you don’t want to rock the boat. Emotions can be messy, with no respect for perfect timing. You don’t want to blubber during a meeting with a prospective client who says, “No,” and your mortgage is due. Or, shout at your boss when you need your job. Or even listen to those feelings that something doesn’t feel right about your relationship when you’re just about to fly off on vacation.

So it’s natural to want to push down inconvenient feelings and emotions back where they came from. At least you can control pretending things are fine.

This might work for a while. But it’s a little like pushing down a ball in water. The greater the force you use to push it down, the greater the splash when it finally surfaces. And if the ball is there, it will emerge at some point.

Have you ever had a bunch of roses that didn’t all bloom? Sometimes you get one bud that just holds its petals tight, hiding its beauty from your eyes.

Feelings and emotions make you bloom and grow. They lead you into a vulnerable place where the light can shine through. You face the unknown, but it’s real. It’s exciting actually. If you like watching adventures on TV or the movies, you might enjoy your own. “Oh my God, what’s going to happen next?!”

I do believe that living your full bloom takes a lot of courage, but that’s what life is about. I’ve been totally committed to mine, even though this has meant facing fears on a more regular basis than some people might. Courage is a muscle you develop, just like learning to listen, trust and follow your inner guidance is a muscle. Discipline, persistence and choosing to find your way back to inner happiness are all muscles too.

One of the ways your inner wisdom speaks to you is through your feelings and sensations. If you block your feelings then you block your inner wisdom, which is like your life force. Your inner wisdom helps you to elevate your life beyond the mundane. It leads you to discover more about yourself, your heart and life itself by stepping through pain, facing the unknown and discovering the light.

 

Nicola Walker, apricot top, head and shoulders

Nicola Walker is an Anything is Possible mindset coach, with over 25 years of combined life coaching and hypnotherapy experience. She guides people at a turning point in life, to navigate and fulfill their dreams and deepest desires.

Nicola is the author of the forthcoming book, Joy in the Middle of the Mess: An Evolutionary Adventure on the Quest for Success. One of her greatest joys is to walk and hike in the hills and along the beautiful California beaches, near her home in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Subscribe to Mindset & Miracles bi-monthly musings & blog nuggets via email

Filed Under: Emotions Tagged With: courage, fears, feelings, happiness, intuitive guidance

I Just Want To Be Moody

March 28, 2011 by Nicola Walker

Does incessant bad weather affect your mood? Does the sight of heavy grey skies and the sound of splattering rain day after day make you tighten up inside and think negative thoughts? I definitely felt that way one day last week, during a series of storms that swept across Santa Cruz and the surrounding Bay Area. Enough was enough. I grimaced as I looked out the window. I growled with the dogs. I was ticked off by too much rain.

Even though I teach people how to breathe through inner tension and negativity to connect with the jewel-like guidance of their inner wisdom, I really didn’t feel like doing that. So I have to admit, there are some days when you just have to declare, “I just want to be moody.”

You know when you stumble on one of those kind of days. It’s time to curl up with a snarl on your face. Put up a sign saying, “It’s best to stay away from me today,” if that’s the case, and just stay alone feeling authentically miserable.

If all goes well, the next day you should bounce out of bed feeling marvelous. Your inner wisdom will be eager to communicate with you and you’ll feel full of passionate purpose.

If this doesn’t happen and you continue to feel moody, then maybe there’s something else bugging you. Time to turn to your inner guidance to find the answers that you need.

 

Nicola Walker, apricot top, head and shoulders

Nicola Walker is an Anything is Possible mindset coach, with over 25 years of combined life coaching and hypnotherapy experience. She guides people at a turning point in life, to navigate and fulfill their dreams and deepest desires.

Nicola is the author of the forthcoming book, Joy in the Middle of the Mess: An Evolutionary Adventure on the Quest for Success. One of her greatest joys is to walk and hike in the hills and along the beautiful California beaches, near her home in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Subscribe to Mindset & Miracles bi-monthly musings & blog nuggets via email

Filed Under: Emotions Tagged With: intuitive guidance, moods, purpose

Can You Want Something Too Much?

January 13, 2011 by Nicola Walker

Have you ever found yourself wanting something so much that you lose your center? If you’ve waited a long while for something you really want, you may have a lot of emotional charge around the thing you most desire, whether it’s money, love, a particular job, a career break, the opportunity to travel. As soon as you catch yourself caught in some in between world that is not the present or the future, it’s time to loosen your grip.

Why? Because when you want something so much that it becomes agonizing or upsetting, you could be pushing what you most want away from you. This is what is meant by needing to let go of attachment. Also, if you’re not fully present, lost in your thoughts of what may or may not happen, then you’re not fully present to your inner wisdom that can effectively guide you to fulfillment.

You’ll know when you want your desired outcome too much, if you notice that your body is tense, that your mind is racing through all the years that what you want has eluded you, how difficult it’s been, maybe fears about what if it never happens? Your attention is more on how your desire has not happened or may not happen, than how it is going to happen. So how can your desires happen through so much tension, fear, mental stories and projections? I know for myself that all the best things have happened when I’ve been relaxed, not even thinking about how much I want something.

This is the ideal way to hold what you most desire. Check to see if this is true for you:

The desire is in your heart. It feels good. You believe it can be yours.
Then you let go, knowing it will show up in good time.

If you find that you still feel very attached to what you want showing up, so that it’s hard to just let go and trust that your desire is on its way, then examine your fears more closely. Your fears are like a wall between where you are now, and having what you want. Fears are illusions, but they seem real when you are emotionally invested in them, when they have carved well-worn pathways in your brain.

Write down each fear so you look it fully in the face. Then see which fears you can fully get rid of.

A lot of fears do dissolve when you shine a light on them — the light of wisdom and awareness.

 

Nicola Walker, apricot top, head and shoulders

Nicola Walker is an Anything is Possible mindset coach, with over 25 years of combined life coaching and hypnotherapy experience. She guides people at a turning point in life, to navigate and fulfill their dreams and deepest desires.

Nicola is the author of the forthcoming book, Joy in the Middle of the Mess: An Evolutionary Adventure on the Quest for Success. One of her greatest joys is to walk and hike in the hills and along the beautiful California beaches, near her home in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Subscribe to Mindset & Miracles bi-monthly musings & blog nuggets via email

Filed Under: Mindset Tagged With: create your reality, desires, fears, letting go of attachment

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