Joy in Breathing

Breathing. Sounds so simple it's stupid? Not really. Back when I worked as a nurse, I witnessed many patients on ventilators. Not where I want to be, I tell you!

Breathing is so essential, no matter what you're doing. If you're an athlete, an artist, a CEO, whatever. Knowing how to control your breathing is much more than something stupid.

I ran across this book about 18 months ago that I very much recommend, called, BREATHE INTO BEING [see link for details]. In my Transformation Of Self, it has been very helpful.

Do you want to improve your life? Take breathing seriously. Think about it frequently. Everything else will fall into place. It's amazing!

Joy in Being

It wasn't free, but three years ago someone gave me the best advice I've ever received:

"Being is more important than doing."

Three years later...I am so much happier--and healthier.

It works. It really does. Try it--then come back and tell me about it!

Joy in keeping those New Years’ Resolutions!

Hey, I’m keeping those New Year’s Resolutions this year! Wow.

It feels good. It’s amazing what a difference keeping them does for your self-esteem.

Mine, obviously, included diet & exercise. The improved body image has also helped with self-esteem!

But there’s a third component to my New Years’ Resolution in 2012, and that was Spirit. It happened by accident last December while I was shopping for office supplies and ran across a very small Date Book, small enough to fit in a pocket.

I started scribbling Daily Meditations in it—always good stuff, never negative. And it really helped when I pulled it out of my pocket to read while sitting in a far-away air-port at midnight on a Saturday night awaiting the Red Eye, leaving beloved family behind.

Whatever your New Years’ Resolutions, think about them now. Are you keeping them up? How do you feel about yourself now? Anything you can do different Today?

Be kind to yourself. Support Body, Mind, and Spirit. If your emotions are black, that means something’s out-of-kilter with your Body, Mind, & Spirit. Fix it!  And have fun.

Today’s Meditation :: “Savasana –Make the world wait for you.” [Christie Williams]

Joy in The Zone

Having trouble getting to THE ZONE?

Or just wondering what I’m talking about?

According to this intriguing Wikipedia page, Zone in this application means, “Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus.”

Its applications are endless. Benefits are incredible!

Here are a few more links to help you:

The Inner Game

The Power of Now

Hot Yoga

The bottom line to all of this is:

FOCUS ON THE MOMENT

NOTHING ELSE MATTERS

Need proof The Zone works? –After listening to Scott Davis’s Nothing Else Matters [link above], click the link to the next song, Master of Puppets. Scott admitted over on Facebook that he was at the edge of his skills when he performed that song, at that place & time. The music is incredibly technical, the distractions are many, yet the performance is … jaw-dropping-amazing!

Joy in Being Creative

I wish this picture would have been taken while I was playing that lovely grand piano! But I did well at my recital in June. Interesting evening, in fact. I was 6th to go up, and the people before me were a mix of piano oldies [yawn] and wild guitar [loud, but good]. By the time it was my turn, I wanted to Show the audience that piano music can be as interesting as guitar. I really pounded it out! I did a medley of Sweet Child O' Mine with We Are The Champions--my own adaptation. When I finished, the teen boys said, "Rock On!" My teacher said, "Are you angry?" [maybe at myself for hitting wrong notes, but he hadn't heard me play with such enthusiasm before] And a little girl leaving the building at the same time looked up at me and said, "I liked your song."

Wow. The novel I published 4 years ago never got this kind of response. So that's why I'm playing piano now instead of writing.

You can be creative at anything you put your mind to. You just have to want it badly enough.

"Ok," you say, "but when I'm doing My Thing, I just can't get into the Zone."

Hey, I can identify with that. Distractions will drive you nuts, and the worst distractions are inside your own mind. But if you've ever experienced The Zone, then you know it exists, you know how wonderful it feels being there. It's mighty elusive, though, isn't it?!

Try deep breathing. Listen to the world around you. I met a well-published lady once who wrote in her laundry room so the white noise would block out phone calls and other nonsense. It won't block out the inner critic, though. You need to lock that bugger in the closet! Have Fun! Just for today....

Last night I amazed myself by getting the left hand and right hand working correctly together on a rather difficult piece of music. I actually jumped up and down like a little girl. 

The Zone is a great place to Be Creative. ...Find it Today.

Joy in the Creative Process

Some FaceBook friends of mine prompted me to start writing again. All I seem to be accomplishing, however, is either poems, or Musing on the Creative Process. In an attempt to prove to them that I am writing…sort of—LOL—I decided to share in my musings.

One of the topics that came up the other day was “Family-itis”—meaning, real life gets in the way of what we really want to do …with our life! I am reminded of a lovely lady, Carol Ding, who I met at the World Science Fiction Convention in Philadelphia in 2001. She was creative in many areas, not just writing. Her photos were magnificent. And I seem to remember she sewed as well, plus other crafty kinds of things. She’s dead now, of an aneurism in the brain. Walking around normal one minute, and gone the next. What I’m trying to say with this story is that I don’t think it matters, really, whether we turn into the next J.K. Rowling, or Beethoven, or whomever.  What matters, really, is that we have fun before we die.

Easier said than done, I know. But it CAN BE DONE! It’s a slow process of weeding out the unnecessary things in your life. Several years ago, there was a task at work that was driving me crazy. I delegated it to someone else [now he’s going crazy, poor guy, but I will not relent!]. I refuse to feel guilty for spreading the work around for others to do.

Balance is the key. I do not make a fortune. Deliberately. I want my TIME to create! I take that time…. At least I try. Yeah, the “Family-itis” got me down recently too. It’s so easy to devolve  into “Let Me Help You With That”…[sigh]. But I AM IMPORTANT TOO!!! [you need to tell yourself] Don’t you forget that! Make the time for yourself. Make it happen TODAY!

Oh, and so I can show my FaceBook team that I’m really being creative with my writing, here’s the poem I wrote on Monday:

PRECIOUS MEMORY

Continent’s edge—

Sea stacks, sea fog,

Sunset’s glow…

Briny waves clacking rocks.

Rocks worn by time…

Tapping against each other…

Tide, waves keep

Them moving.

Three gray oblong rocks

Brought home as souvenirs—

Heavy in the suitcase—

Now on my dusty dresser,

Not wet or moving

Yet smooth to the touch.

~kc

Joy in flexibility!

When I was a small child, I made Cs & Ds in PE. Couldn't touch my toes then, either. Fast-forward half a century, add desk-job-itis, and flexibility is something to be envied in the young.

If you identify with even part of the above statement, check out Hot Yoga. Seriously. The heat helps the joints move easier, and you lose weight faster. Every time I see an old person wobbling around with a walker, I commit myself even more to Hot Yoga: http://bikramyoga.com/

Joy in losing weight!

It’s kind of embarrassing, sharing the first photo. But I want you to see what dieting can accomplish. In the second photo, I wasn’t wearing a bikini only because northern California is cold! in June.

 

People here in town are asking me, “How did you lose weight?” The answer isn’t quite this simple, but here’re the basics: “Don’t eat bread— eat MUFAs instead!”

When I first went Gluten Free, I still ate other grains. And went crazy watching other people eat bread. But when I learned to feed my hunger with MUFAs, I gradually became numb to bread-itis. I even tasted it a few weeks ago… and it now tastes like cardboard. Seriously. Now I barely touch any grains at all. And I don’t miss them. MUFAs are monounsaturated fatty acids, or, plant fats. You know: nuts, avocados…chocolate!

My diet does have a few more complications—like very little salt or sweeteners, lots of low fat protein, and water. And exercise. And a positive attitude.

But yes, you can live without bread! 

....

and just yesterday I discovered a website which substantiates my independent findings: whole9life.com  If you're serious about turning your life around, whole foods are a MUST DO!

Joy In Laughter

Don't let the title of this entry fool you. Sure, it's easy to laugh when we're happy, ENjoying life. I'm kinda weird, though. I laugh when I'm in pain. Really throws some people. Those who don't know me have accused me of being a drama queen. Actually, I'm just the opposite. It's rare for me to show strong emotion. So when I really let out a "Clownish laugh," it means I'm in pain. It's either that, or cry. Side story here: A couple of years ago I saved a honey bee from drowning in an outside water bowl. Just reached in, cupped my hand, then spilled the bee onto the picnic table. It fluttered its wings, did its dance, then flew off. Last year I did the exact same thing with another drowning bee. I didn't do anything different, but this bee had been stung numerous times by wasps. This bee stung me, then died. The reason for the side story is this: Be gentle with people on Mondays. Especially Mondays after holidays, or on a Tuesday after a Monday holiday. Not everyone enjoys holidays or weekends like maybe you did. There's a chance someone is in pain and not showing it. Food for thought... Let me laugh. It beats seeing me angry.....

Website: Joy in Change

Where did that website go?! kcheath.com is going off-line for awhile. Several reasons--the main one being: it just doesn't Fit my needs. I originally got into book reviews, and if you saw kcheath.com [established in 2006], you know there were over 200 reviews there. Then I wrote my own book...well, a Trilogy. The first book--REINS OF TIME--got published in 2008. The publisher never linked my website to theirs, even though I asked repeatedly. In the 3+ years the book was represented on my website, I never once got an email from a "reader". No. I continued getting "requests for reviews." Why should I read your book when you haven't read mine? --LOL-- I hate being the proverbial Black Hole of Submissions, so I'm taking the site down for awhile. Another reason for the change is the new slant on philosophy. "Escape Time with KC Heath" was the official name of the website. Back in '06, I was convinced that reading and writing fantasy fiction was my escape from reality. I've since been over and under and back and forth.... Yeah, life will do it to you, won't it just! My new take on life is that we should not try to escape time, but live In The Moment. Tough. But a great new challenge! I'm keeping kcheath.com as my domain. Once my day-job situation changes [expect that within 2 years], then I'll put a new website up to represent where my creativity has taken me lately. It's all over the board, really. In the last 2 years I've taken cooking classes. Piano lessons. Yoga. ...read books by some really incredible authors [non-fiction & fiction both]. Have cobbled together a very nice poetry chapbook. Painted an antique chair. Poked at gardening. Dabbled in photography. And told my publisher who asked for Book Two that they can't have it until they're ready to accept that I have 5 main character points of view. Change is good. It helps us grow.

Joy in Where You Live

For my friends in the frozen north I send a vision of my mid-February business trip:

The song, "TEXAS" says: "Heat and blue sky, a road that goes forever."
This state is indeed large, though not so hot in February.

Driving home through
Pouring chill rain and cracking thunder
We see black cattle on rolling green pastures
Stretching to a horizon dotted with majestic oaks,
Windmills, red barns, horses, and oil pumps,
Rock fences, cactus, deer, and yard-chickens,
Drought-dead trees and flooding streams,
Sandhill cranes, snow geese, and longhorns.
And on this narrow road, 18-wheelers,
Pickup trucks, and Harleys.
We pass small town antique stores,
Palm trees, bare willows in fog,
White-barked sycamores lining wide rivers.

Home again on the coastal plain we are
Greeted by pink roses blooming, doves cooing,
Warm humidity, three over-wintering hummingbirds,
And, by nuzzling deep, the scent of kitty tummy just washed.

"They got big long roads out there,
Warm winds blowin'...
Texas--the only place to be."

[Quoted passages by Chris Rea]

Joy in losing weight

Yes, it is painful to watch the person at the table with you pigging out on lots of yummy stuff when you are on a diet. I crave artisan bread smothered in whipped butter....

But! This extreme diet I've been on for the last five months has me down two clothing sizes AND feeling a lot better about myself.

Dieting and exercise are worth the effort. The secret to surviving the other person slurping the yummies in front of you is to look at that person's waist line. Odds are, that will cheer you :)