Welcome to “My Better Day” October newsletter!
Each month, “My Better Day” newsletter contains tips for your yoga practice, yoga quotes to bring yoga off the mat and into your life, affirmations to brighten your day and motivate, and more! It is my deep wish for your well-being that I send this newsletter to help make your day a Better Day!
In This Issue: Yoga Quote, Practice Yoga Pose, Meditation on the Go, Chakrascope,
Hand Mudra, Featured Card Deck and Quote, Healthy News, Featured Recipe,
Favorite Yoga Music/DVD, Happenings at Better Day Yoga LLC, Final Relaxation Quote.
*By the way–this newsletter is one of the 8 part/posts newsletters. They took quite a bit of time so I began doing single post newsletters after the February/March 2014 newsletter. That being said, if you want all of the posts of one newsletter for the 8 part/posts, please hit the back button to go back to all the posts listed with the newsletter your’re reading. Hope that makes sense!
Namasté,
Sandy Krzyzanowski
Founder, Better Day Yoga LLC
“Choose to be lucky”—quote from Energy Art by DaKara
Do you consider yourself lucky? Do you even believe in “luck”? Why or why not? I have always believed that luck, like life, is what you make of it. That how you approach or react to a situation dictates the outcome, making your own luck. This is the same sentiment as the saying “luck is where preparation and possibility meet”.
We’ve all heard about the placebo effect. Believing in something makes it happen. We sometimes assume that attributing it to the “placebo effect” means it wasn’t really real. I’ve always believed that the placebo effect is simply our body providing its own medicine to heal. The end result is healing, so who cares how it got there? Call it a miracle, call it placebo; most don’t care so long as the healing happens. As a friend of mine words it—judge by the end result.
I think luck and the placebo effect are viewed similarly by society. We don’t believe luck is really real either. Somehow because we can’t explain it all the time, we put little stock in it. But if believing in it is what makes it happen, who cares how it happened? Why not believe you are lucky? Why not do as the saying suggests and “prepare to meet possibility”?
Perhaps it’s easier to acknowledge how grateful you are for the good things in your life. We can all believe in gratitude. So let’s start there. It’s not a long stretch to consider that you’re lucky for having what you’re grateful for. Looking at luck through the lens of gratitude legitimizes it. Doesn’t it? Every time something good happens to me I remind myself how very lucky I am to be alive and exactly where I’m at. I affirm that and feel it in my bones.
One of my previous newsletter’s had a “meditation on the go” that suggested saying “this very moment” whenever something good happened to call it out, to recognize it, to make it more real. One of my favorite versions of this is repeating to my husband over and over at various moments ranging from simply sitting on the deck drinking coffee and listening to the birds, or watching old re-runs with homemade popcorn: “We have fun, don’t we?” It’s become a mantra for me. I love acknowledging the moments in this way, each and every luscious one of them.
Yet, I still have to work on stopping the judgment of my “monkey mind”—which we all have. I say I “work on”, because I fail regularly. Some days I’m better at it than others. We all like to judge what life is giving us at any moment. “This is good.” Or “This is bad.” But as one of my niece’s favorite songs says “Who died and made you king of anything?” (Great song! Check it out:
No one needs my opinion on every little thing, and most days I don’t even need my opinion on every little thing. What’s more, I even find truth in the funny comment emblazoned on a t-shirt in a catalog I saw recently that says, “I don’t even agree with everything I say.”
There is much written about our egos being the one that likes to judge, judge, judge. It likes to be in charge. Letting go of our inner ego so that we can really see what life is giving us—without all the judgments— is what makes us all realize there is so much more to be grateful for than we ever realized. Letting go of our inner judge makes us all believe we are lucky.
You’ve probably gathered from my newsletters that I love affirmations. When I use them, it feels like I am making my own luck. Because if luck is a matter of what you draw to yourself (Law of Attraction), and what you attract to yourself is a direct result of what you put out into the world, then affirmations are my good luck charm. They allow what I put out into the world to be that much better. By choosing the affirmations that resonate with me, and repeating them to change my outlook, I am choosing to be lucky. The affirmations help me to expect synchronistic, good things to happen, to create my own self-fulfilling prophecy, to create my good luck. Why would anyone not choose to be lucky?
There’s a new book that talks about creating your own luck called Cosmic Energy—How to harness the invisible power around you to transform your life, by Anne Jirsch. The author references “The Luck Experiment” documented in another book.
Professor Richard Wiseman, is a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire and a “fellow” of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. He wrote The Luck Factor after ten years of studying people’s attitudes toward luck and chance and how this affected their reality. He conducted an experiment of over 400 men and women investigating actual beliefs and experiences of lucky and unlucky people. There were striking differences between the two and he wondered if using the information from his studies he could create a “luck school” to increase the amount of good luck that people encounter in their lives. It was a huge success with the result being that 80% of the volunteers were happier, more satisfied with their lives; and, yes, luckier!
He says his work “demonstrates that much of the good and bad fortune we encounter is a result of our thoughts and behavior. More important, it represents the potential for change.” Here are his four tips on becoming lucky:
- Listen to your gut instincts—they are normally right.
- Be open to new experiences and breaking your normal routine.
- Spend a few moments each day remembering things that went well.
- Visualize yourself being lucky before an important meeting or telephone call.
He adds a reminder that luck is very often a self-fulfilling prophecy. His Website words it a bit differently, and adds some points:
“The results of this work reveal that people are not born lucky. Instead, lucky people are, without realizing it, using four basic principles to create good fortune in their lives:
Principle One: Maximize Chance Opportunities
Lucky people are skilled at creating, noticing and acting upon chance opportunities. They do this in various ways, including networking, adopting a relaxed attitude to life and by being open to new experiences.
Principle Two: Listening to Lucky Hunches
Lucky people make effective decisions by listening to their intuition and gut feelings. In addition, they take steps to actively boost their intuitive abilities by, for example, meditating and clearing their mind of other thoughts.
(Frank Capra tells us that “A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something.” Using your gut feelings as to what decision is right for you is using your Sacral Chakra energy, the featured chakra highlighted below. Luck is really intuiting the opportunity within any potential activity you are considering.)
Principle Three: Expect Good Fortune
Lucky people are certain that the future is going to be full of good fortune. These expectations become self-fulfilling prophecies by helping lucky people persist in the face of failure, and shape their interactions with others in a positive way.
Principle Four: Turn Bad Luck to Good
Lucky people employ various psychological techniques to cope with, and often even thrive upon, the ill fortune that comes their way. For example, they spontaneously imagine how things could have been worse, do not dwell on ill fortune, and take control of the situation.”
How about some more traditional “good luck charms”? Many of us associate luck with wishes coming true. We’ve all used some oldie but goodies for wish-making, like blowing on our birthday candles, wishing upon a falling star, hanging the horse shoe with the prongs pointing up to capture and hold the good luck, or making a wish on the wishbone from the Thanksgiving turkey.
For some other lighthearted, old-fashioned ways to bring luck here’s some fun ones to try compliments of http://everything2.com/title/Things+on+which+you+can+make+a+wish:
Necklace Claps:
When the clasp on your necklace is turned all the way around to the front, someone else can turn it back for you and tell you to make a wish.
(I have been doing this one all wrong! I have been telling my friends to turn their own necklace clasps back when they come to the front and make a wish. Apparently, this doesn’t work if you do it for yourself, so it’s a good idea to train all your friends to keep an eye out.)
Eyelashes:
A stray eyelash on someone’s cheek means they have an eyelash wish available. You, the eyelash finder, declare that you have found an eyelash, then gently lift it off their cheek with a finger and ask them to make a wish. They make their wish and blow it off your finger.
This is a nice thing to do with family members or someone you have crush on and long to get closer to. It is one of those sweet things that can make someone’s day a little nicer.
Earrings:
If you lose an earring, make a wish on the remaining one. (Gosh! I have a few wishes to make!)
11:11:
This is the time of day when legend has it that one can make a wish, and there is a greater chance of it coming true.
Though history is vague, it is clear that this myth originated from another one – that of wishing on a star. That, combined with the fact the number one is the only one that ever fills all four spaces on a 12 hour digital clock simultaneously led to this rather unusual belief. But it certainly can’t hurt to make a wish.
(Some time ago, I read a book by Nick Bunick called The Messengers, referring to “444” meaning angels are present. Now whenever I see 444 on a license plate, or the clock, etc., I consider it a sign that whatever I was just thinking about is going to be okay. My husband and I refer to 222 as “1/2 an angel” and 888 as “a double angel—one for each of us!” Why not?!)
Here’s a couple more from the Wishing book from Running Press:
Coins:
If you find a coin (especially a penny), make a wish on it. If you spend it, your wish won’t come true. (Adding to that, one of my favorite authors, Wayne Dyer, added a little magic to this one. It can be any coin denomination you find that creates abundance. When you find loose change, say “thank you” either silently to yourself, or out loud. This acknowledges to the Universe that the found money is a sign of the abundance flowing into your life.)
Crickets:
A cricket in the house, particularly on the hearth, brings good luck; so make a wish on it. If the cricket chirps, there’s a better chance that your wish will come true. (My husband and I’s first apartment had one annoying cricket in the apartment that we could never find! Who knew it was a sign of a long, beautiful marriage?)
Dinnerware:
A diner who is served food in a dish with a flaw or chip may make a wish when taking the first bite of food. Switching dishes so that you’ll get the “wish dish” will invalidate the wish. (Who needs perfect dinnerware? No wishin’ to be had when everything’s perfect!)
Rabbit, Rabbit and four-leaf clovers
My husband used to listen to a radio host when we lived in Indiana that would always say “Rabbit, Rabbit” on the first of the month for good luck to last the month. You had to be the first to say it. So we’ve continued this tradition.
Now since we always look out for the other’s best interest, we’ve been counting “1, 2, 3” and then saying in unison “Rabbit, Rabbit” thinking we’d each get luck. As I research this strange custom, it looks like there are variations of this that say: “When the words, “Rabbit, Rabbit” are spoken to any person on the first of the month, for the rest of the month the speaker receives the luck of all who heard the phrase.” So it’s possible that means my husband and I have been receiving each other’s luck! Either way, it’s all good, and it’s a fun way to start the month! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_rabbit
A rabbit’s foot has long been considered a good luck charm. My Dad had one. He also was able to find a four-leaf clover any time he looked for one—a universal symbol of good luck. As a child, I thought he was magic (still do, but that’s another story.) http://www.fourleafclover.com/vshop/facts_about_4-leaf_clovers.html .
Some of these good luck actions and charms like the lost earrings, the crickets in the house, and the chipped dinnerware affirm for me what the “luck experiment” referenced above found—that those who create their own luck view everything in a positive light, and they turn bad luck into good. They don’t dwell on the negative, but take control of the situation and thrive. Lost an earring? Great! Wish on the other one! Chipped the bowl? Great! You’ve got a wish coming! Cricket got in the house? Wonderful! That wish is bound to happen now! They take common occurrences like a falling star, and the clasp of the necklace gravitating toward the front as reasons to celebrate! So rather than viewing life with “So what? That happens all the time.” They say “Yay! Let’s use this opportunity to create our own abundance!” Because they know abundance is everywhere! What happens to you all the time that you can use as a cue to celebrate your luck?
My Dad knew how to create his own luck. Perhaps my Dad could always find a four-leaf clover because as in “principle number three” above, my Dad always thought there was something good ahead. He always had a goal and a plan, and not just any plan. It was always a plan that ignited his passion. He did nothing half-heartedly and it was his “openness to new experiences”—principle number one—that initially brought him and his young family to America; and then led him to move to Florida after my Mom passed away where he met his second wonderful wife, Prudy. She was, and is, a blessing to our family.
What new experience has been on the perimeter of your thoughts but you haven’t taken the leap to try it out? What so-called “bad” luck have you been recently dealt that you could redefine as “good” luck—sort of like turning a chipped bowl into a wish-making opportunity? What is your gut telling you to do next? Take a moment to be still wherever you are at and clear your mind, extending your exhales for a few deep breaths. Meditate on what your intuition is telling you. What are you drawn to? What pushes you away? Honor those feelings.
Try this: Just for the next week, tell yourself how lucky you are as many times in the day as you remember to. At the end of the day as you nestle into bed, recall all of the day’s events that you are grateful for and send rounds of “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you” out to the Universe for each and every one. For those situations during the day that didn’t go the way you wanted them to, replay them so that they did. Think about how you wanted to behave, and how you wanted to situation to go. Focus on the expectation of being lucky.
Quantum Physics theory states that the conscious act of observation is the key factor in the formation of reality. Why not observe yourself as being lucky? Remember from my last newsletter that Maxwell Maltz’s Psycho-Cybernetics book reminds us that the mind cannot tell fact from well-imagined fiction. “Just supposing” works so define what you want to happen.
Okay, as I was trying to come up with a way to close my “all things lucky” article with panache, I literally spotted a white squirrel in our yard. Yes, you heard me right! After a frantic effort to figure out the camera (my husband’s domain), I snapped some quick, unprofessional photos and simply sat in awe of what I was witnessing in my own back yard.
My husband called just as I completed the snapshots and I shared my excitement with him saying “Wouldn’t it be neat if the squirrel came up to my basement window as I was typing?”—Like the yard wasn’t enough.
Funny, even as I consider myself a person who is always talking to the Universe and believes the Universe talks back, I am always testing to make sure the message is really for me. Surely I don’t deserve this message. Do I? Somehow I thought if the white squirrel came up to my window, it would really be a personal message. As I continued typing, trying to keep from gazing out the window some more, the white squirrel came right up to my eye-level basement window and I took another couple of snapshots. I’m humbled by my disbelief.
According to Scott Alexander King, Albino animals have been revered in most cultures for centuries; venerated as omens of good fortune, fertility, plentiful rain and bountiful harvest. Some even describe them as being imbued with supernatural or magical powers, usually charged with extraordinary strength, speed, shape and size.
He says “the white animals are here to fulfill an ancient prophecy: to invite us to follow them into that forest now – into an unfamiliar place of deep healing and personal acceptance so that we might finally emerge the other side as re-birthed and reformed individuals; whole and healthy beings in an interrelated world. They are reminding us to reclaim our beauty, our soul-essence and our Personal Power; to find a place of trust and acceptance within ourselves, to know our Sacred Self …” I think the Universe is constantly reminding us “Yes, I mean YOU!”
Other sites continue with the same sentiment adding that white animals have spirit connections and serve as a definite omen of great wisdom and ancient knowledge signifying spiritual magnitude (the most revered example being the White Buffalo). It was taboo to hunt a white animal. If an albino squirrel were hunted and killed, the hunter would suffer loss of his hunting abilities. Even the skin or hides of these animals must be treated with reverence. In many prophecies, the birth of rare animals represents a rebirth for humanity, the sacred animals being harbingers of peace, as foretold by the ancients.
A Google™ search tells me that seeing an albino squirrel before a test is good luck, and according to two members of the Albino Squirrel Preservation Society:
“While spotting a squirrel can bring a smile, seeing an albino squirrel can brighten your whole day – a new symbol of good luck!” and “Anyone that is lucky enough to see an Albino Squirrel will be lucky for a long time.” I can to attest to the overwhelming feeling of pure joy as I saw the squirrel for the first time, and every day since (It’s been five days now and she is still visiting our yard every day!). She is so beautiful and makes me feel so very blessed.
I’m not sure what my next test is, but I’m hoping the white squirrel omen means I’ll pass with flying colors…the combination of which is white! Enjoy!
