Stevie Puckett

Tag: meditation

  • The Bliss Or Bust Formula

    The Bliss or Bust Formula is a process that will help you experience what you want in life. Learn to apply it, and you will perceive the world differently. The next step becomes so easy and the feeling of overwhelm vanishes. Try it and watch the magic happen.

    Step #1: How do you want to feel?

    There are so many emotions to experience. It’s wonderful to feel happy, joyful, youthful, energetic, sexy, athletic, beautiful, funny, calm, confident, connected, creative. We could go on and on. This is the juice of life! The reason any of us want anything is because of how having it will make us feel good. The trick is to identify what you want to feel more of and then intentionally practice and notice that feeling. Use your imagination. Plan in advance to notice and enjoy the feelings you want.

    For example, if you know that you love to feel serene, you can easily have more of that feeling. Begin by planning to feel serene. Tell yourself, “I look forward to feeling serene more and more. It’s going to be so nice. I love to feel serene.”

    Take notice of all the serene things around you as you go through the next several hours. Now that you have clarity that what you want is to feel serene, be still and listen for it…feel for it. You will find yourself spontaneously feeling good several times a day. Take a second or two to spotlight that feeling when it comes around.

    Step #2: Feel it.

    Say to yourself, “Ah! I’m feeling so good right now. I love to feel good. I love to feel serene. I love this feeling right now, and I look forward to feeling this way more and more.”

    Anytime you think of it, intentionally feel serene. You can look forward to feeling serene more and more. Imagine and observe serene insects and animals as often as possible if only for a few seconds at a time. Smile at them. They are here to remind you that what you really want is to feel serene.

    Step #3: Take action when inspired.

    Learn to notice the feeling of inspiration. Recognizing inspiration to act will help you complete the next step easily and with perfect timing. Contrast that with pushing yourself forward with the brute force of discipline only and you can easily recognize the difference.

    There is a distinction to be made here between the feeling of inspiration which feels like a complete idea and subtle momentum to move versus inner dialog which feels worrisome and urgent. Inspiration is a subtle, calm, and fearless vibe. While inner dialog is a loud, urgent, and worrisome vibe.

    Be brave and begin listening more and more for the subtle voice. Move with inspiration. When you are tuned in to inspiration, there is no second guessing or devil’s advocate argument going on in your mind. You just know it and you feel the impulse to take action.

    When you move forward with inspiration on your side, things that once seemed overwhelming now become very flowing and easy. You can plan ahead to feel inspired too. Be it about what you need to get done in a day or a certain problem you want to solve (see step #1).

    #4 Only positive thoughts in your mind.

    Spend less and less time shaming yourself, feeling guilty, feeling sorry for yourself, worrying what others think, and/or generally looking at the negative side of things. Recognize those thoughts for the worthless mind clutter that they are and let them go. Get quicker and quicker at shutting those thoughts down by dropping them. Don’t fight them. Just give them a nod, smile, and let them go.

    There are many different things you can try to stop the energy-draining, resistance-building, mind clutter of negative thought. Following are some ideas to experiment with:

    • Ask your Higher Self to remove anxiety and worry from you, or simply to fill you with bliss or love or joy (which all trump negativity every time if you can allow them).
    • Have a phrase at the ready to release yourself from the struggle. Say to yourself, “Baby, you don’t need it” or “Easy does it.”
    • Listen to your favorite songs and turn them up. Let the music heal you.
    • Find a good place to sing, cry, or yell it out.
    • Exert your body with exercise or divert your mind with games.
    • Do a micro-meditation. Close your eyes and call for what you want to feel. For example, “I want to feel my patience right now,” or “I want to feel my love right now.” Then breathe and feel for it.

    #5 Only positive words from your mouth.

    Choose which words you say and what stories you tell and repeat wisely. Speak more and more about what you look forward to and what you enjoy. You spread bliss like this! Others may hear your words and feel the freedom and flow of inspiration too. But, no big deal if they don’t. Your main concern needs to be thinking and speaking about what you want and what you enjoy. It’s a habit that will enhance your life. It just happens to make you a force for good too.

  • Know Your Stressbusters

    Stress is a normal part of life. Still, like anything else, too much can be harmful to not only our mental faculties but also our physical health. We must not only reduce stress in our lives but bolster our wellness to weather the inevitable stresses.

    The basics of bolstering wellness are to: 

    • Eat food that helps you feel good.
    • Move and stretch your body daily.
    • Adhere to a good sleep routine.

    You must figure out how what works for your unique needs best in these areas of nutrition, exercise, and rest. When you do, that foundation will keep your body more robust and healthy.

    Learning to let your mind free of stresses and worries is also an important stress buster. Meditation and quiet contemplation are two methods of reducing stress. If you’re not into meditation, spend a half-hour or so each night reading a good book in a comfortable chair or take up an enjoyable hobby. Anything that distracts you from the concerns of the day and allows you a chance to decompress can be a worthwhile activity.

    Go for a walk in the park or get a pet. Get a dog and take the dog for a walk in the park. A walk outdoors in the fresh air can do wonders for reducing stress, as can a companion animal. It likely wouldn’t hurt to combine the two if you’re so inclined.

    Play games. Card games. Board games. Video games. Whatever floats your boat. You could also try puzzles. Putting a jigsaw puzzle together may be an excellent way to decompress also. It’s hard to worry about work when you’re trying to find a matching piece! Or, do a crossword puzzle, word find, or sudoku.

    If you’re artistic, you could paint, draw, or even just doodle. You could try needlecrafts, sand art, sculpture, wood carving, sewing, or whatever suits your interests.

    Take time to listen to music or watch television. Take an evening and go out for dinner and a movie. See a play. Go to a sporting event.

    The important thing is to take some time out for yourself. Find something that works for you, and remember to take time to do it. Relaxing and recharging is essential!

    Practice Being Organized

    Some stress is caused by situations beyond our control, making it all the more important to do what we can to reduce stress in the circumstances we can control.

    One thing within our control is our level of organization. While it may seem to have little to do with stress levels on the face of it, a lack of organization will prove otherwise in a stressful situation.

    If you’re under pressure to find an item in a stressful situation, imagine how much more stressed you become when you cannot locate it.

    As you shuffle through papers, folders, and drawers, your frantic searching may cause further disorganization, setting the stage for a later repeat of the situation. If, instead, you can quickly locate what you need when you need it, your stress levels will be lower than they might otherwise be.

    Naturally, the first step is to do a thorough cleaning, eliminate clutter, and organize everything needed.

    • Make sure you organize everything in a manner that makes sense for you, using a system you will remember and stick with.
    • Once you get organized, stay organized.
    • Each day, set aside a few minutes to get your work area back in order.

    Ideally and when practical, follow a pattern where you handle each item only once. For example, when you get a new document or piece of mail, read it and then act on it, file it, or recycle it. Eliminate the “I’ll do it later” items as much as possible. Too often, later never comes because of other more pressing needs. Additionally, you won’t suffer the stress of seeing a growing stack of “I’ll do it later” items sitting on your desk. You can better focus on the job at hand rather than being frustrated by the amount of work left to do.

    Being better organized will not eliminate stress, but it can help keep it at reduced levels. Plus, it makes for a better and easier home and workplace, so there is no downside. Get organized and reap the benefits of increasing your productivity and reducing your stress level.

    Remember to Breathe

    Feeling a little stressed is a normal part of the working day, but when stress gets to be too much, it can affect your judgment causing you to make rash decisions. It can also affect you physically, causing tension in your muscles, increased heart rate, or aches and pains.

    The key is to keep stress at a manageable level. One way to do this is with a simple breathing exercise.

    • Sit still in a relaxed position with your back straight.
    • Clear your mind as much as possible.
    • Breathe in slowly, for a deep breath.
    • Hold, but only as long as it is comfortable.
    • Breathe out slowly.
    • Hold.
    • Breathe in.
    • Hold.
    • Breathe out.
    • Hold.

    Repeat often. Take a few seconds here and there. Use a simple breathing exercise regularly to help lower your stress level.

  • On Making Changes in Your Body

    When you want to make changes to your body, such as losing or gaining weight, adding muscle, or developing your fashion style, it’s good to remember that it all begins with what you think of yourself. For satisfying progress and results, cut yourself a break and learn to discipline your thoughts to focus more on not only what you appreciate about your body but also what you appreciate in your life.

    Positive transformations can take place within your body. There are solutions around for you. If you can tap into a new positive expectation, you will be brought to ideas that you had not noticed before, or you may try something again with a whole new attitude that makes all the difference. Or, on an even bigger scale, you may find a new understanding as to why being slowed down with difficulty with your body provides you with an experience that helps you develop a needed skill or have a special experience in your life.

    When you know what improvement you want in your body, you have a few choices. You can feel angry, depressed, or generally awful about yourself…or you can treat yourself as a child of the universe who is learning, and you can cut yourself a break.

    All that happened before is part of the process that brings you to now, and that’s all, just a step along the way. If you notice that you often look back and kick your own butt about stuff, try letting it go instead. You can be sure you did the best you could with the information you had at the time. So be kind to yourself. You are open to change and improvement now, and that is fine and good.

    Move forward with inspiration knowing that you have always made the best move you were capable of at the time, and you will continue to do the same. Now is the time to nurture yourself by controlling your focus. What matters is what happens next, and your results going forward are directly related to feeling good now.

    Imagine how you will feel when you have what you want and choose to feel that way now. Get jazzed about all the experiences you want to have and what you want to create and go with that feeling as long as you can for a few minutes every single day. Daydream that the changes you want are already here. Do it with an attitude of fun. It’s fun to play with ideas of what you can choose and what the improvements will mean for your life.

    Appreciate vitality when you see it. Use the beauty you see around you as a reason to feel good. Know that more vitality is coming to you when you can feel good, even if only for a little bit at first. Each time you practice, you will become better and better at feeling good and appreciating your body.

    The importance of being okay with slow results can’t be over-emphasized. If you allow yourself to reinforce feelings of frustration or anger at slow results, you defeat your own purpose. Change can come, and it may be at a snail’s pace, but if you focus on the slow pace, you get more of a slow-down. 

    Instead, please focus on the momentum. Ideas you can use are coming faster and faster. It is getting easier and easier to maintain the good habits you intended. There is momentum, and you are heading in a direction that feels good as you remember to enjoy life from where you are right now.