Empowerment

I am a firm believer in empowerment the process of gaining knowledge, experiences and skills. It allows us to cope with every day life while allowing personal growth. Being empowered also inspires us to advocate change while helping others. Empowerment begins within us with the heart powered by love. Being empowered allows us to improve our self-image while building our strength to make the best life for ourselves.

I came across an online community for women created by motivational speaker Gabrielle Bernstein called Her Future.com. A place where women can come together for networking, inspiration and support. It is hear where you can learn and interact on a wide of topics from spirituality, fitness to careers. Gabrielle sole purpose is so instill the idea of the power of positive thinking as the key to happiness. I feel very fortuned to be connected to such an amazing lady and community. So ladies come and be empowered at http://www.herfuture.com/

A paradigm is a group of ideas that you see the world with.  We get and learn many of our ideas from our parents, teachers, and friends.  The media also plays a powerful part in shaping our beliefs.  Newspapers, magazines, books, television and the Internet educate on everything from lifestyle, health, and politics to cultural issues.  A paradigm shift refers to the change of ideas.

As we grow older, our thinking changes over time due to our experiences.  Many people with disabilities are still trapped in the disabled paradigm where they are only being judged and seen on their disabilities.  The key is to shift the focus on the person rather than their disability. A disability should be seen as a characteristic that makes a person special and unique. we often get so focused on a person’s disability that we forget about the actual person.  It is important to remember that people come first and their disability comes second.  We are all human with the same emotional needs that should be met.

A soulmate is an unexplained connection to someone whose qualities complement each other.  They come to know, understand and accept each other.  They also challenge each other while learning from each other. I have cherished the journey my husband and I have taken to the point we are at today, a happy loving marriage.  I still remember the long hours we chatted online getting to know each other.  Even online, we both felt very connected to each other, having many similarities and differences.  It was very interesting how we shared many similar experiences due to our hearing loss.  We both knew instantly from our first in-person meeting that we were going to be together forever.  Each visit was filled with love and happiness.  Every moment spent together has been filled with laughter and fun.  Our wedding day confirms our commitment to each other and started our official journey in our life together.  Every day I am thankful that I have found someone to share love and experience life with.  I am feeling very lucky that I have someone who loves me, accepts me and supports me every day, and I do the same for him.  As our love keeps on getting stronger and stronger, each day is better than the last.

I feel that in order to find love with another person, you must first learn to love and respect yourself.  Most importantly, you must be content with your life before sharing it with another person.  The practice of yoga can help you discover your true self while becoming aware of your needs and wants.  The first step is to slow down and look within yourself to find what makes you tick. Meditation and deep breathing exercises help you see how you want your life to play out live in the present.  Yoga postures teach us to accept our flaws because everyone does each pose in their own way in time with no judgment.  Through yoga we can learn to remove negative emotions by focusing on the positives in life.  The practice in many ways can open our hearts to love and happiness by teaching us to show gratitude and express ourselves to those around us.  The yoga belief system teaches us to practice non-violence, honesty and selflessly helping others.

Whenever I meet someone, I always look for the good in them and focus on the positives and see what I am able to learn from them.  I find it is important to be a friend at first before getting into a serious relationship.  The growing friendship is what evolves into a strong, loving relationship, if it is meant to be, or stay with a strong friendship.  It takes time to develop any relationship because there are many layers to understand and get to know.

One of my favorite parts of being a columnist is that I get to meet some amazing people. Very recently I met a lady who become a quadriplegic after an accident at age 26. She told me how writing poetry helps her cope with everyday life and expressing her joy in the simple things in life.  While reading her poetry you can feel what she is seeing and feeling at that moment. This inspiring lady dictates her poems to her caregivers who then type them up into poetry books that she shares with friends and families. Please take a moment and feel her inspiration and beauty in her poems.

http://www.thereminder.com/special/poetry/poetsonline/laurachagnon/toppedwithabow/

http://www.challenges.com/gr2.html

I can remember always feeling overshadow by my disabilities.  For a short while all I felt was the weight of being labeled disabled. It left me feeling isolated and very different from everyone else.  Everyone has their strong and weak points even though it is important to improve our weak areas.  Fostering strengths can have many postives impact on one life. For example a positive self image would develop paving the way to to grow in many ways. Another point we brought up was the importance of including the disabled child in determining what accommodations are needed to meet their needs.  It may sound like a simple concept but sadly I have run into people during my life who felt because of my disabilities I could not speak for my self.  Every where in society people  with disabilities of all ages deal with stigmas that reflect negatives of having a disability instead of focusing in on the person and their strengths. All people deserve to be treated with respect and to be independent.

I have always seen yoga as a way of life rather than just an exercise program.  There are also many benefits from spiritual connections to dealing with stress.  Yoga is considered one of the oldest forms of exercise dating back more than five thousand years.

There are four paths to follow that you can choose to follow in your yoga practice.  You can choose to do one or more.  Yoga is about exploring new opportunities within your mind and body.  The first path is raja, which is the practice of physical and mental control.  Raja yoga is considered to be the complete yoga practice.  The first part of it is the practice of meditation, which teaches you self-awareness, concentration and breathing.  The physical side is when yoga poses are performed through the movement of the breath.  This path is an example of the mind – body connection.

The second path of action is karma yoga.  Karma yoga is about taking the yoga practice off of the mat and practicing the principles in everyday life, such as giving to and helping people without the expectation of receiving something back.  The focus is on the cause and effect of our actions on individuals.  A true karma yogi like myself takes their yoga practice within their hearts and expresses their love to others.

The third path is the path of devotion, called bhakti.  This path involves opening your heart to a divine power through prayer, worship and ritual.  It also involves living your life through a divine power belief system.

The final path is jnana yoga, the path of knowledge.  This path is considered the most difficult path to follow because it integrates the lessons of all four paths to help you find the meaning of life within ourselves by meditation, questioning and contemplating experiences.  The student uses their mind and body to explore the spiritual self and it’s connection to the world.

The path the student will take in their yoga practice will depend on what the student wants from their yoga practice.  For example, some might want increased flexibility, a spiritual connection or want to practice compassion in their life.

To quote Robert Frost,

Two roads diverged in a wood, and

I took the one less traveled by.

And that has made all the difference.

The Road Not Taken

Yoga is about seeing where life will take you filled with many exciting adventures to learn from.

To me Christmas is about being with loved ones and celebrating life. There are many ways to show love and joy. The idea is to be creative which is my favorite thing to do. Some things I like to do as gifts are sending Christmas cards and baking cookies. Home made gifts are fun to do such as painting a picture, doing a sewing project and making a scrap book. These are truly gifts from the heart. Another way to give is volunteering your time to help others like serving food in a soup kitchen to donating food, clothing and toys to charity so everyone can have a happy holiday.  So during this holiday season  slow down and remember to keep the love and joy alive.  I wish everyone a safe merry Christmas.

Every once in a while, I come across an inspiring story, but this one was especially inspiring to me since it is about an individual who overcame a life altering event with the help of yoga.

At a young age, a tragic automobile accident changed the life of Matthew Sanford’s family forever.  The accident killed his father and sister while Matthew, his mother and brother survived.  Even though Matthew was paralyzed from the waist down, he managed to pull himself up and move forward with his life.  In his book, “Waking: A memoir of Trauma and Transcendence”, published in June 2006 talks about his long journey to recovery, while learning and adapting the mind and body connections to help change his life.

The mind and body connection refers to the bond between physical and mental health.  This bond is very powerful and strong that must be kept at a healthy, even balance.  If one is unbalanced, the other will also be unbalanced.  This can cause ailments, stress and depression.  Yoga is an excellent tool in keeping a good balance because it works both sides while teaching us how to keep an even balance.  Today Matthew Sanford is dedicating his life to teaching the importance of the mind and body connection.  In 2001, he founded Mind and Body Solutions, where he helps individuals integrate their minds and bodies through yoga.  The organization operates a yoga studio in Minnesota and does public presentations on taking care of your mind and body.  They are known as the national leader in the practice of adapting yoga for people with disabilities.  Their message is that trauma and loss can be transformed into hope and potential.

Matthew is an example of someone with a physical disability who is using the experience to help and inspire others to any negative into a positive.  Like myself, Matthew sees his disability as a characteristic that is a part of himself, rather than a barrier in life

Speaking from my own personal experiences it can be very difficult to make connections with others due to stigmas and misconceptions about people with disabilities.  One example is when individuals are only judging the disability rather than the person.  This can lead to feelings of loneliness, isolation and rejection for many.  Social interaction is a big part of everyday life, which allows us to feel like we are part of a community, experiencing new things while fostering our talents and interests.  Also, by encouraging and building relationships we are working to rid society of the stigma that people with disabilities face every day.  We can overcome this hurdle with education and showing that we should look at the person first before seeing the disability.  Nothing is more positive then doing something you love and which makes you happy.  Positive passion is what drives us to succeed. Always keep trying new experiences to find our niche and keep life exciting.  I believe in forging ahead because there is no obstacle that can’t be overcome.  In my own life I have found that a real friend is one who sees me rather than my disability.  From my perspective, I see each person as a unique individual who is worthy of friends.  I have made wonderful connections through family, the Internet, my daily life and volunteering.  We are all worthy of having opportunities, experiences and living our best life.