$20 Tuesday: Men's Cufflinks

Valentine's Day is around the corner - these cufflinks are great on a white button down shirt over jeans or on a tuxedo shirt for a more formal occasion. Either way, your man will look hot!

Regularly $35, but today they are only $20, including tax and shipping! Only two sets left, click here now to get yours! (No two are exactly alike)

Monday Meditations: Flowing Water (revisited)

Strawberry Creek ~ Idyllwild, CA

Last August I posted a meditation that guided you through using the sound of running water to help silence the mental chatter that seems to pervade our minds. Today I am revisiting it because I am staying in a small cabin with my family for a few days right next to Strawberry Creek in Idyllwild, CA. This morning I went down to the creek with my faithful dog Scooby to take in the beauty. I sat on a rock and closed my eyes and focused on the sound of the water.

Two things struck me as I did this:

1. Nothing stays the same. The water rushes by the rocks and twigs, meandering through and around these obstacles to continue on it's path. It is ever-changing. There is no freezing a moment in time. There is no re-living a moment exactly as it was. Each and every moment is unique and so special.
2. Stillness will always be. As I was sitting on that rock listening to the gurgles and flow of the water, I realized that amidst all of that energy and movement, I was still. The rocks were still - they held their ground. All of us have that inner stillness that we can return to at anytime to re-ground ourselves. No matter what chaos is happening around us, no one can touch that stillness. It is ours, and contradictory to my first point above, it does not change.

If you would like to try the Flowing Water meditation described in my August post, see what happens if you think about the two points above while you're at it!

$40 Fridays - Plum Swirl Buckle & Belt

The Plum Swirl Buckle with leather strap - more than 50% off today. 

Click here if you want it, before someone else does!

THERE ARE ONLY TWO!

$30 Thursdays - Rainbow Candle Bridge

Perfect to hold a small globe candle or just as an accent piece, this graceful transparent candle bridge is made of blue, yellow, and plum strips of glass to create a beautiful piece for your home.

Yours for only $30! 

NO tax, NO shipping charges! 

Click here to purchase.

ONLY ONE AVAILABLE!

Do Your Actions Match Your Intentions?

My friend Jen has a great blog called Not Just Another Jen where she writes about life, marriage, kids and "all the messes in between". Each month she chooses a word and encourages others in the blogging world to write a post about that word and share it. This month, the word is "Intention", and these are my thoughts on this very appropriate word for the beginning of a new year.

courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

I practice yoga at the Anahata Yoga Studio in Encinitas. At the beginning of each class, the instructor gives us an opportunity to set an intention for our practice. The intention may be for spiritual or physical healing in yourself or someone else, it could be to manifest a transformation in your life, or to cultivate a particular characteristic in yourself. Several times throughout the practice the instructor will remind us to come back to our intention. For me this is such a beautiful example of how important it is to keep reminding yourself of the reason you are doing something - what was the original intention? Do your actions, efforts, and results still reflect that intention? 

Deals and Steals

If you are like me, you LOVE a good deal. So I have thought of a way to give you all kinds of opportunities to get great deals on a weekly basis.

Three times a week, I will offer one item at a greatly discounted price: $20, $30, or $40. Or sometimes, I will combine all three items in one blog post and just offer them all to you at once.

BUT - in most cases there will only be one or two of each item  so act quick or they'll be gone! After that day or week, they will either be removed from the website or will go back to their original sale price.

The sugar on top? FREE shipping, and you will automatically be entered to win a $50 gift certificate!

Each deal will be announced on my facebook page as well as this blog each week. If you are not a facebook fan yet, click here to become one, or sign up to receive my blog via your email (see top right of this blog) so you don't miss out!

$20 Tuesdays - Platinum Heart Necklace

Here is the first $20 Tuesdays deal of our Deals and Steals promotion! This pretty little heart is painted in liquid platinum between two layers of glass - a streaky transparent red on top and a white layer underneath to create opacity. The platinum shimmers and gives the heart a life of it's own. Red leather cording, and perfect for Valentines Day.

What makes this deal even sweeter? How about NO tax, NO shipping fees, just a flat $20 (regularly $39!) 

**This is the only one** If you want it, click here before someone else does! Good luck!

Monday Meditation: Intention

courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

This week's Monday Meditation is on harnessing the power of intention to help us receive what we really want. I was first introduced to the concept of actively setting intentions by my yoga instructor many years ago. Over the years, the importance of doing so has been reinforced by books I have read (The Power of Now and A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, and The Secret and The Power by Rhonda Byrne), famous personalities (Oprah, The Dalai Lama), and from a less-known source, my much adored "Notes From The Universe" (person- alized daily emails from, who other but, the Universe! Seriously, check this out - it is awesome!)

Prayer for Yesterday's Ho'oponopono Meditation

Since my post yesterday on this meditation was getting a little long, I have included the prayer that goes with the Ho'oponopono meditation that can be said, if you desire, at the end of your practice. Of course, it can be said anytime.

Oh Divine Mother, Divine Father, Teachers, spirit friends and allies,
and all those who love me, hear me now.
I come before you with my heart open,
In humble gratitude fro my soul's journey.
I acknowledge my unfolding,
And nourish the flames of my heart, mind, and soul
With the beauty I create in the world.
Bless my footsteps as I walk upon my path,
So that I may always remember the road that leads
Too the truth of the flame within me.
And so it is.

If you'd like to try a guided Ho'oponopono meditation you can download it free on itunes here (scroll down to bottom). For me, listening to a guided meditation helps my focus and keeps my thoughts from taking control!

Monday Meditation: Ho'oponopono

Courtesy of Free Digital Photos (ref: dan)

This week's meditation, Ho'oponopono (excerpted from Advanced Chakra Guidebook by KG Stiles) is on forgiveness. Ho'oponopono is the Hawaiian code for forgiveness. In essence, it means to make things right with your ancestors or with the people whom you are connected and have relationships with, most especially yourself.

In these first few days of 2012, I seem to be drawn toward meditations and conversations that center around starting fresh and "taking out the garbage". What better time than the beginning of a new calendar year to wipe the slate clean and clear out negative feelings and resentments? And right now, the natural forces of the waning moon can help you in this process - thank you Mother Nature!

"When you hold resentent toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free." - Catherine Ponder 

In essence, Ho'oponopono restores your light or energy body which connects you with all of life. It also restores your e-motion, or energy in motion trough which you are always affecting everyone around you by your thoughts, words, feelings, and actions. This forgiveness meditation can help you:

• be loving and accepting of the parts of your self that seem in shadow or lost
• activate the law of grace to operate fully in your life
• cleanse any past problems you may have had in relationships, especially with relatives
• discontinue family patterns (depression, addiction, abuse)
• align your actions and thoughts with harmonic prosperity at all levels

Ready? This is a challenging one - it requires you to really have an open mind. Try not to judge the meditation itself - it is a tool to help you become free of those negative emotions that have gotten stuck.

1. Get comfy -  sitting on a cushion and place a candle on the floor in front of you.
2. Calm your mind. Be quietly present with your sacred inner space where your personal "pilot light" offers you guidance when needed.
3. Light your candle and focus on the flame. The candle's light reflects the Divine within you.
4. See the person you feel discomfort with inside a healing circle of light. See yourself within this same circle of light being connected to your greater self with a golden cord above your head. Visualize another golden cord above the other person's head to their greater self, and both of your greater selves being connected by a golden cord between your hearts. Now, HERE'S THE HARD PART:
5. To heal any discord or feeling of separation between you and the other person say, "I apologize. Please forgive me." By saying this, you are asking for forgiveness inside yourself in order to release and let go of the feeling of discomfort inside of you. It does not mean you are condoning anyone's behavior - just that you no longer wish to suffer from a past issue.
6. Breathe deeply and exhale as you let go of any toxic emotions and stagnant energy.
7. End by saying, "I love you. I thank you." Continue repeating this for as long as needed until you feel completely free. Repeat the meditation over the days, weeks or months as needed until you feel deep resolution at the core of your being. 
8. If you feel inspired to take some action after completing this meditation - do so! Your heart is wise.

If you'd like to listen to the guided meditation or see the prayer that can be said at the end of the meditation, click here. I know - this is a heavy. But how nice would it be to clear yourself of some of the junk that finds a way to reside in our minds, our bones, and our souls?


Happy Ho'oponopono!

Monday Meditation: Let Go Of Your Past

Courtesy of Simon Howden/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I thought this would be an appropriate subject for the beginning of the new year. This is always a time of reflection on where we've been and where we want to go. I think it is great to look at the past and respect how it has delivered you to where you are now. It is more important to not dwell in the past, but to move ahead and live in the present.

This week's Monday Meditation, "Let Go of Your Past", is adapted from Madonna Gauding's, The Meditation Bible:

Your past may be dragging you down and getting in the way of you manifesting your dreams. You may be holding onto the pain of a lover who left you or the humiliation of losing your job or the scars from a less-than-ideal childhood.  These events hurt, but they happened in the past. Keeping the past alive - whether in the form of old hurts, outdated ideas, or useless habits - makes it difficult to be open to new relationships and opportunities in the present. Try this meditation if you feel stuck in a painful past and want let go of old emotional and mental baggage. 

Preparation: 

Write down those things that happened long ago that still cause pain when you think about them.

Practice: 

1) Stretch out on the carpet or a mat on the floor. Cover yourself with a light blanket if you need to. Breathe deeply and relax for a few minutes. 

2) Bring to mind any emotional baggage from the past. If you still feel pangs of strong negative emotion when thinking of it, it is time to let go. Visualize your emotions as an old, beat up suitcase you drag around wherever you go. These old feelings no longer serve you. Imagine letting go of the suitcase and your old pain and what it might feel like to not be dragged down by it. See if you can sense a weight being lifted. Notice if you feel lighter. 

3) Continue scanning your memory for old baggage - old, worn-out emotions and ideas that no longer offer you a healthy benefit. Again, visualize them as old pieces of luggage with broken handles and being held together with tape. Acknowledge and thank them for their presence; let them know it is time for you to let them go. Visualize yourself walking away from them or having water sweep them away. 

4) Visualize and feel yourself as lighter, unencumbered and free. Breathe deeply and relax a few more minutes. See your future opening before you, full of wonder, promise, and opportunity. 

Our past sometimes seems so inseparable from our present. Our past served it's purpose to shape us and to provide us lessons to learn and grow from. That is why it is important to respect the past and even thank it for bringing us to our present. And then...let go.

Good luck! I'd love to hear your experience with it.

It's A New Year

AP Photo/John Minchillo

Happy 2012 everyone! A new year is so symbolic of SO many things! A time to set new goals, make changes you've been putting off, let the past go and start with a clean slate.

Here are two of my personal resolutions for the new year:

1) Create more GEMs (genuine encounter moments) with my kids. They are now 15 and 13. At their age, friends are definitely preferred over parents. It's tough, but not impossible!! We started with getting a ping pong table for them for Christmas. We had our first doubles match of 2012 at 12:20 am this morning (my husband and I against the boys). I am proud to say my husband and I won - which gives the boys a reason to want to play with us again. Gotta keep giving them reasons to engage!!

2) Conquer the mail. Why do I hate mail so much? I think because everything (besides the junk mail I throw away immediately) contains a deadline. Ugh - bill due dates, event rsvp dates, special offer expiration dates, I LOATHE what the mailperson brings! I never seem to have time to take care of it then, so I put it in a pile that I promise I will get to soon. Ya, right. And if it doesn't have a deadline, it is one of those ambiguous items - do I keep it or toss it? Might I need or refer to it later? If so, do I create a new file folder for it or just put it to the side (with 79 other pieces of ambiguous items)? I almost wish mail was only delivered one day a week which would be my day to designate the time to take care of it all at once...well, I think they are planning on eliminating Saturday mail delivery, so maybe in a few years I'll be in luck?

Do you subscribe to the idea of setting one or more resolutions at the beginning of every year? If so, what are some of your top resolutions for 2012?