Big Fat Lies
with Guest Mentor Amy Ahlers
and A Book Giveaway!
Please welcome our Guest Mentor for January. Amy Ahlers is a seasoned life coach and author of the new book, Big Fat Lies Women Tell Themselves: Ditch Your Inner Critic and Wake Up Your Inner Superstar. (New World Library, 2010)
She has a power-packed message for us, just in time for the launch of the New Year.
She and I had a delightful conversation about her new book and the falsehoods and insecurities we're inclined to listen to. She shares 3 powerful steps we can take to stop doing this and to begin to live in an empowered new way. We also talked about the importance of spiritual practices and Amy revealed hers.
I hope you will listen in and take Amy's wise advice—stop talking badly to yourself, toss out self-criticism, and embrace the beautiful being that you are. 2012 can be your year to shine!
Listen to the 20 minute podcast
http://www.awakenedliving.com/podcasts/AmyAhlers.mp3
Join the Giveaway!
Leave a comment here after listening to the podcast or reading this insightful excerpt from Amy's book. We are giving away one copy of Big Fat Lies Women Tell Themselves to one lucky winner. It could be you!
Big Fat Lie #54
I don’t need a spiritual practice.
by Amy Ahlers
The Truth: Honey, we all need a spiritual practice ... especially in today’s fast-paced, chaotic world. The trick is to find a practice that works for you, one that feeds your soul, fuels your spirit, and fills you with delight.
I’ve coached thousands of clients from all kinds of religious backgrounds: Catholic, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Wiccan, agnostic, atheist, and more. And I can tell you from experience that the happiest and healthiest Inner-Superstar-shining-bright people have a daily practice. They have found something that connects them to themselves and their spirit every day. Whether is it praying, meditating, dancing, walking in nature, or playing the drums LOUD, they are doing it regularly in order to free themselves of their Inner Critics and to become fully present to their own hearts and magnificence. It’s not about finding the time; it’s about creating and claiming the space for you to cherish you.
You need to view the time you spend doing your practice as a gift to yourself, not as an obligation or burden. It’s time to stop making excuses about why you’re not doing it and begin today.
Challenge: Let’s create a daily practice that will feel absolutely divine and delicious:
• Begin by thinking about what fuels you. Do you love music? Is nature your church? Is silence a cherished rarity in your life? Are you crazy about dancing? Decide on one joyful, nourishing ritual to do for a daily practice experiment.
• Next, decide on the time of day that is the most sacred for you. I recommend morning time, but being a busy working mom myself, I know that mornings can be total chaos and it could be easy to miss your appointed time. Use whatever time of day works for you, and slot your practice in between two established habits. In other words, tether your daily practice to something you can count on yourself for. For example, you could sandwich your practice between brushing your teeth and drinking your cup of coffee or tea. Or put it between putting your kids to bed and watching TV.
• Set a timer for your practice experiment. Using a timer will give your practice a beginning, middle, and perhaps most important of all, an end. If you’re starting from scratch, begin with only a three-minute commitment. Work your way up to fifteen or twenty minutes throughout the next few months. Remember, your practice, which can be anything from breathing deep to listening to your favorite song to standing outside barefoot in the grass — whatever feels right — is going to be fun and nurturing.
• Go easy on yourself! Allow this new habit to be fun. Take bold baby steps to create your new habit.
• Notice how you feel when you gift yourself with a daily practice. Do you feel more centered? Less stressed? More present?
Sometimes it can take time for your daily practice to have a powerful positive effect. When I first started my daily meditation practice, on some days I would sit and breathe and watch in horror as anxiety bubbled up as I obsessed over my to-do list for fifteen minutes. Not exactly what I had in mind! But I kept with it, and now I feel so blessed to do my practice. It gets me completely present so I feel alive and plugged into my life.
Want more juicy ideas? Christine Arylo and I created a wonderful eBook called Super Power Your Day: Daily Practices for the 21st Century Woman that you will receive for free in the reader’s tool kit at www.BigFatLiesTheBook.com.
Affirmation: I joyfully pause, meditate, and visualize each day. It is my habit, and it is sooo easy.
“Let us be silent,
that we may hear the whispers of the gods.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, American philosopher and poet, leader of the Transcendentalist movement
Excerpted from the book Big Fat Lies Women Tell Themselves: Ditch Your Inner Critic and Wake Up Your Inner Superstar © 2011 by Amy Ahlers. Printed with permission of New World Library, Novato, CA. www.newworldlibrary.com or 800-972-6657 ext. 52.
I don’t need a spiritual practice.
by Amy Ahlers
The Truth: Honey, we all need a spiritual practice ... especially in today’s fast-paced, chaotic world. The trick is to find a practice that works for you, one that feeds your soul, fuels your spirit, and fills you with delight.
I’ve coached thousands of clients from all kinds of religious backgrounds: Catholic, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Wiccan, agnostic, atheist, and more. And I can tell you from experience that the happiest and healthiest Inner-Superstar-shining-bright people have a daily practice. They have found something that connects them to themselves and their spirit every day. Whether is it praying, meditating, dancing, walking in nature, or playing the drums LOUD, they are doing it regularly in order to free themselves of their Inner Critics and to become fully present to their own hearts and magnificence. It’s not about finding the time; it’s about creating and claiming the space for you to cherish you.
You need to view the time you spend doing your practice as a gift to yourself, not as an obligation or burden. It’s time to stop making excuses about why you’re not doing it and begin today.
Challenge: Let’s create a daily practice that will feel absolutely divine and delicious:
• Begin by thinking about what fuels you. Do you love music? Is nature your church? Is silence a cherished rarity in your life? Are you crazy about dancing? Decide on one joyful, nourishing ritual to do for a daily practice experiment.
• Next, decide on the time of day that is the most sacred for you. I recommend morning time, but being a busy working mom myself, I know that mornings can be total chaos and it could be easy to miss your appointed time. Use whatever time of day works for you, and slot your practice in between two established habits. In other words, tether your daily practice to something you can count on yourself for. For example, you could sandwich your practice between brushing your teeth and drinking your cup of coffee or tea. Or put it between putting your kids to bed and watching TV.
• Set a timer for your practice experiment. Using a timer will give your practice a beginning, middle, and perhaps most important of all, an end. If you’re starting from scratch, begin with only a three-minute commitment. Work your way up to fifteen or twenty minutes throughout the next few months. Remember, your practice, which can be anything from breathing deep to listening to your favorite song to standing outside barefoot in the grass — whatever feels right — is going to be fun and nurturing.
• Go easy on yourself! Allow this new habit to be fun. Take bold baby steps to create your new habit.
• Notice how you feel when you gift yourself with a daily practice. Do you feel more centered? Less stressed? More present?
Sometimes it can take time for your daily practice to have a powerful positive effect. When I first started my daily meditation practice, on some days I would sit and breathe and watch in horror as anxiety bubbled up as I obsessed over my to-do list for fifteen minutes. Not exactly what I had in mind! But I kept with it, and now I feel so blessed to do my practice. It gets me completely present so I feel alive and plugged into my life.
Want more juicy ideas? Christine Arylo and I created a wonderful eBook called Super Power Your Day: Daily Practices for the 21st Century Woman that you will receive for free in the reader’s tool kit at www.BigFatLiesTheBook.com.
Affirmation: I joyfully pause, meditate, and visualize each day. It is my habit, and it is sooo easy.
“Let us be silent,
that we may hear the whispers of the gods.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, American philosopher and poet, leader of the Transcendentalist movement
Excerpted from the book Big Fat Lies Women Tell Themselves: Ditch Your Inner Critic and Wake Up Your Inner Superstar © 2011 by Amy Ahlers. Printed with permission of New World Library, Novato, CA. www.newworldlibrary.com or 800-972-6657 ext. 52.
Amy Ahlers, the Wake-Up Call coach and co-founder of the Inner Mean Girl Reform School, is the author of Big Fat Lies Women Tell Themselves: Ditch Your Inner Critic and Wake Up Your Inner Superstar. Visit her online at http://www.wakeupcallcoaching.com/
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