Mindful Relationships

Christmas 2015 at my dad’s house :). I love my family!

Oh… holiday season. The time of the year when we are reminded to be grateful, joyful, and of the dynamics of our family relationships.

I believe people are in our lives for a reason. I don’t believe in accidents. I believe that if you look closely at your relationships that you gain an understanding of yourself, that you heal parts of  you that hurt, and that you cultivate compassion for yourself and others. The world needs this and so do your family and friends. People, both the ones you adore and the ones that challenge you, are there to teach you. Your experiences with others can bring you great joy and peace and transform your world if you pay attention.

This year as you head out to go shopping, as you wrap presents, decorate the house, bake goodies, and attend family gatherings be mindful. Instead of just going through the motions be present. Don’t just buy presents, be present. Take the time to be grateful. Take the time to breath. Take the time to listen. Take the time to feel. Take the time to be kind. Take the time to laugh. You may be surprised how much better each day and each moment is when you can take the time to be mindful.

This year give more hugs, spend more time, love more deeply and cherish each moment. Make a gratitude list and share it with your family. Donate food, donate your time. Take a nap, play a game, read a book, learn to knit, see a play, or simply have tea with friends. Are time for peace, love and joy.

Excellence in Love is a program that I created teaching relationship skills. The practices are Awareness, Acceptance, Attitude, Action, and Acknowledgment. The practices create a new level of self-awareness allowing you to live an authentic and empowered.  If you would like a FREE pdf please email me at creativewellness@cox.net  You can also listen to me speak about these skills by visiting my website www.amymccae.com  (rated #6 out of 40 speakers, top 3 were the organizers, Vibrant Life Summit)

Want to learn more of how I can support you please visit https://amymccae.acuityscheudling.com/  to set up a time to talk to me!

Love the people you have in your life 🙂

Happy Holidays!

Amy McCae

www.amymccae.com

I am the oldest of four children all who are married with children. Our children range from age 20 to one on the way! My mother is not alive and I am divorced so we are missing a few in this pictures. The past six years both of my grandmother’s, both of my father’s sisters, a man that was like a grandfather to me, and a brother and sister of my mother’s have all left this world. This picture is my immediate family and includes my then 94 year old grandfather who is still watching football and even occasionally drinks beer.

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Bucket List

What you think about you bring about. My passion for neuroscience and an understanding of the creative energy of thought always leads me to exploring my world and my dreams. The proof of our thoughts and of our limiting beliefs are right in front of us if we pay attention. Today I am curious… I invite you to play with your dreams and aspirations for a while. You never know…

Many years ago I wrote a “bucket list” that I later found buried in some files I was cleaning out. Much to my surprise at the time, a number of the experiences could be checked off. I am list person. I always have a “to do” list to manage my day but recently I have been looking at my day to day life and wondering why it doesn’t include some of the things I love. I have also taught dream board classes but skipped that and skipped creating one this past year. We never know how much time we really have and at 42 I can say time sure does fly…

Here is start to my latest bucket list :)!

1. Learn to salsa dance
2. Travel to Europe
3. Visit India
4. Take a painting class
5. Write a book or three
6. Own a house on the ocean
7. Visit New York
8. Make peace with the past
9. Create residual income
10. Play, just play
11. Make a difference in cancer patients and domestic violence victims lives
12. Eat at V Mertz
13. Love, really love with a man that really loves me (maybe get married)
14. Learn Tantra
15. Buy a home
16. See the Northern Lights
17. Learn a new language
18. Visit Egypt to see pyramids
19. Learn to play piano
20. Be mindful and honor the beauty in all people, events, and things
21. Learn to knit, been saying this for years…

I hope you will create your own. Your list can be small or large as you like, can have a theme, or whatever you desire. That’s a beautiful thing!

Would you like help in creating a list or in creating what you have on your list? Set up a free phone consultation HERE

Many Blessings to you. Namaste.

Amy S McCae

www.amymccae.com

 

 

In the End; Live Life

This is one of my absolute favorite quotes and perhaps my new motto or mantra :). I see it on Facebook often and although I can not say for sure that Buddha said this exactly, I do believe that it is close and certainly resonates with many people including Buddhists and worthy of reflection for all.

How much do you love? This is perhaps the greatest question of all time. What does it mean to love? How do you define love? Love isn’t always what you feel and think.  Love is also an action. If you don’t believe me think about your relationships and which ones are successful. Loving someone means making time for them and allowing them space when needed. It means showing expressions of kindness that may mean doing something for them or simply sitting quietly holding hands or snuggling a child. How and why you love is a topic worth of deep exploration.What does it mean to you?

How gently do you live? This may be related your relationships with others, with yourself, all the way to how you take care of the planet we live on. Are you walking this earth with peace in your heart? To be gentle means to be kind, calm, and tender. When you woke this morning were you kind to yourself? Did you feel calm or rushed? As you go about your day think of ways you can practice being a little gentler with yourself. Maybe eat a little better and buy from the farmer’s market? Meditate, nap, spend some time in nature? Find a project that you are passionate about that helps makes the world a better place for all?

How gracefully do you let go of things not meant for you? Oh…. not my strong point. But… so important. Holding on to things or people not serving you only holds you back from greater things. Forgiveness is never for the other person, it is for you. Holding on to ideas will squash your creativity and holding onto people or your ideal of them will squash your growth and limit your potential for greatness. Never let your past destroy your future. Always keep walking forward living in this moment with the people and events right now. Take some time to write about your anger or hurt. Take some time to remove energetic chords to these people and events and then fill that space with love.

If these ideas resonate with you and you would like support in living them please contact me!Free phone consult

Amy S McCae

www.amymccae.com

Certified Life Coach, Holistic and Spiritual Wellness Expert, Transformational Speaker

 

 

 

Mindful Living and Living Your Values

How often have you spent the day  feeling overwhelmed, aimlessly running hoping to check a few boxes off your “to do” list? Are you aware of the things you see, the people you meet, or even your own thoughts and feelings? Do you remember what makes you happy? If you are aware of your values and live in the present moment you don’t have to ask these questions. You will know that you are living authentically, you will feel empowered, and you will be successful, happy, healthy, and confident.

Core Values are deeply held beliefs that govern your actions and even your behavior. Your sense of self, your identity, and how you view and respond to the world are all dictated by your core values. Often you are not aware of them and yet you can be reacting to people, places, and events based off subconscious beliefs and values causing unnecessary trouble and drama. When you align your core values with what you think, speak, and do you live a life filled with propose and passion.

There are numerous ways to begin to discover your core values. This link CORE VALUES will take you to a list of over 400 descriptive words. Read through the list, choose the ones that mean the most to you, and then spend a week narrowing it down to five. Those five will be deal breakers for you in relationships of all kinds, will support you in your personal and professional success and even affect your health. Those five core values are what you love, represent, and honor. They will reveal the truth of who you are, what you need, and the choices and behaviors you will need to embrace.

Being mindful is simply being aware of your thoughts and emotions in the present moment without passing judgment on them. There is a silence and that in silence there is a space where all possibilities lie. Tara Brach, Ph. D, psychologist, and teacher says;”Mindfulness is a pause-the space between stimulus and response: That’s where choice lies.”When you are mindful you have an understanding of yourself, those around you, and what your choices are. You make decisions inline with your core values, you honor and respect yourself and others, and you create an environment that supports peace and happiness.

How do you practice being mindful? Pay attention to your intention. At any time you have the ability to pause before acting or making a choice to ask yourself; “What is my intention?” Then, choose your words or action based off your values and intention. There are ways for this to become a habit. One is to meditate. Any form of relaxed, focused attention for even a few minutes a day will support you in growing your ability to be mindful. There are countless benefits to meditating! Check out this website to be amazed at the benefits!!!  You can also practice an intention for each day such as Rudolph Steiner’s Exercises for the Soul which you can view here OR you could even create your own daily intentions which may look like this: Sunday; I will be mindful of playing with my children. Monday: I will be mindful of my eating habits, and so forth. Choose what matters to you, think about or meditate on it that day, and recall the importance and the intention through the day. You will be pleasantly surprised at how your actions, perceptions and even relationships transform.

Would you like to learn more? Let me help you!

Set an appointment or FREE Focus session

More about me 🙂

Many Blessings,

Amy S McCae

 

 

 

Heavily Meditated: Neuroscience of Meditation

 

Check out my new shirt! On sale at Target and made by Peaceful Warrior, how could I refuse? Meditation is the one thing I can count on to bring me peace. Not only does it bring me peace but it helps my body and spirit heal and it also allows me to tap into my intuition in astonishing ways.

Honestly, I have always had a fascination with brain function. When I was only 10, while all the other girls wanted to be models and teachers, I wanted to be a “brain” surgeon. In high school I wanted to be an anesthesiologist  Although I never became a doctor, I never lost my curiosity for the power of the mind. My curiosity would lead me to fascinating studies. Those studies would lead me to meditation.

The benefits of meditation include; increased vitality and confidence, better clarity as well as increased attention, memory, and emotional intelligence all while decreasing depression, anxiety, pain, and insomnia, and even improve relationships, increase success rates, achieving goals easier, as well as feelings of peace and happiness. AND SO MUCH MORE check out 100 benefits here:  WOW!!!

Here is how it works:

During the day you spend much of your waking hours with your brain waves in Beta, which is a higher frequency. This allows you to easily use the left hemisphere of the brain which supports logic, reason, time, and space. This is helpful for day-to-day tasks. When you meditate your brain frequencies lower to alpha or theta where there is no time or space and you can tap into your creative and intuitive aspects associated with using the right side of your brain. Children’s brain frequencies are lower until about age 8 or so. This is why you can tell them anything and they believe you. Why do you think they beleive in Santa until then?

Meditation changes your brain. It is rest and exercise for your brain :)!  (An organ you want to be functioning at its best, right?).  Those who meditate have more gray matter which affects memory and decision-making. The amygdala, which is responsible for how we effectively deal with stress, shrinks with meditation. Check out this scientific study for the details  HARVARD NEUROSURGEON  There are countless studies that prove how beneficial meditation is to your health and life.

Meditation does not have to be difficult. If you have time to breathe, you have time to meditate. There are countless ways to meditate. You just have to begin. If thoughts come to you just release them and bring your attention back to your focus. Try one or two of these to get started:

-Sit with a candle for three minutes and try to keep your eyes open

-Choose a mantra such “I am” ( I personally love Sanskrit)

-Focus on your breath

-Sit in nature and listen to the sound

-Walk in a circle over and over

-Listen to guided cd’s or relaxing music

It’s a meditation practice, not meditation perfection so don’t worry about if you are doing it correctly, just do it.

Want to learn more?  Let’s talk!

Many Blessings to you.

Namaste,

Amy McCae

www.amymccae.com

 

 

 

 

 

From Christianity to Shamanism: My Journey to Find a Spiritual Connection

 

When I was in my early thirties my mother, who had died when I was 20, sat at the end of my bed one night. This would be a life changing moment for me. I would question EVERYTHING, including my sanity. The rosary above belonged to my mom. My sister made sure I got it after my grandmother died. It holds a very special place in my heart. (I even have a bizarre meta-physical story about this rosary that I will write about some day.)

Growing up Christian there were two main ideas that I seemed to walk away with. One, that God was outside of me and he looked like Joseph or some bearded man in the sky. AND that Jesus had died so I could be forgiven for my sins. Neither of which made any sense to me, ever. I mean really? I could go so many places with these ideas…

As an adult I explored countless religions and longed to find somewhere I belonged. I never felt any connection to God or spirit through organized religion. In my mid-twenties I read many books including numerous ones by Silvia Brown thinking I had some answers. I saved my quit smoking money to have a physic reading with her only to be disappointed, heart-broken and again doubt any spiritual connection.

Let me assure you that when your dead mother sits on the end of your bed it is time to figure it out. I decided to prove my experiences as well as my sanity though a different avenue; science. This phase of my life I learned about quantum physics, about energy, and about thought as a creative force. Being able to connect to my own intuition through the power of my mind was empowering. My sense of spirituality would be scientific.

However, my new found version of spirituality would come with a price. I would be ridiculed by neighbors, accused of practicing voodoo and witchcraft by family, told I did not believe in God, and have family telling their own version of Jesus to my daughter trying to “save” her. Going against the grain is never easy but not staying true to who you are is even more painful. Eventually I would gain confidence, make new friends, and even start a meeting,Evolving Minds, where I would finally have a safe place to talk meta-physics and spirituality.

Life would come with challenges and pain that left me desiring a connection that wasn’t so science based. This year I began to study Shamanism. I struggled in the beginning because all of my training and studying had been so scientific. However, the magic and rituals of Shamanism were fascinating and beautiful. I learned ways to connect to nature, animal totems, spirit guides,and maybe even my higher self. The spiritual connection I was missing was finally right in front of me.

Although my journey to finding a spiritual connection would seem daunting at times, today I am blessed to have both science and nature based understanding of spirituality. I don’t feel the need to hide or to prove my experiences. I no longer hide my ideas and beliefs and am confident in my journey. The combination of science and nature have empowered me. I feel whole, connected, and free to be who I am.

My version of spirituality means knowing who you are, using your own unique gifts and doing good for the world. Simple, kind, and transforming. I am little bit of a modern day hippie dreaming of peace and love (and chocolate too) wrapped up as mom and business woman filled with fascinating stories about earthly and spiritual existences meshing.

Wishing you whatever you need to be confident in your journey, connected to Spirit, and free to be you.

Amy S McCae

www.amymccae.com

Experience a mini distance session:

mini energy balance or shamanic journey for your animal total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transformational Thinking

Albert Einstein proved himself to be a free thinker who valued intuition, creativity, and the power of the mind to change your life. He is well known for quotes related to things such as: We can not solve our problems from the same level of thinking we used to create them and Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Ohhhhh….. I find myself guilty as charged for creating vicious cycles of repetition that lead to destruction leaving me feeling insane.  My intention being to create the space, relationships, and success I truly desire. However, my stubborn, rigid thinking tends to feel more like a rat in cage; trapped and stuck. My over active mind wonders what the hell happened if my intention to do good seemed so clear.

The answers lie in your thinking. Your subconscious mind holds information that you ignore. Your mental story plays out in front of you. There are no accidents and no coincidences.You write the script with your thoughts.  Knowledge of this is incredibly powerful. Being aware that your thoughts create your reality allows you the freedom to change and to create. Transform your thinking, transform your life.

Science proves structural changes as well as the ability to rewire your brain through  meditation and other mindful practices. Knowledge is power. What are you thinking?  How would you like to change or enhance your story? What are you willing to do? Are you willing to dig deep? Are you willing to open your mind to possibilities?

Would you like to learn how Amy can help you transform your thinking? Schedule a free phone session HERE

Thank you!

Amy S McCae

www.amymccae.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mindful Relationship Choices

This image was created by my little one when she was four. I tried to hang it above my piano recently and rather unsuccessfully so I just set it on top along side some photos and knick knacks. One of those being this block saying;”Quiet the mind, and the soul will speak.” A peaceful reminder of how I want to live. The artwork reminds me of the scattered mess my mind can become. It also reminds of all the creativity and beauty that lies within myself and the world.

This week brought some incredibly challenging situations for me and unfortunately my ability to see the beauty in transformation and growth got lost in my pain and my scattered mind. Victor Frankl said,”Between stimulus and response, there is space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.” It is in the those moments of silence that we will find the answers to how we should respond to the person or the situation. If we do not, we suffer and stunt our own growth.

Sometimes we get stuck. We get stuck with ideas of who we think we should be or how we believe people should treat us. We have a history and life story that has lead us to behave a certain way including engaging in situations repeatedly that come from a mindless place and do not serve us or those we care about. We have expectations that our future looks a certain way and we take people for a ride with us thinking that they are part of the story and we make them part of the problem. Deepak Chopra says;”Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, let the mind remain in the present moment.”

Although I did not remain as present as I would have liked this week, I was reminded that relationships show us exactly what we need to learn. I learned that I won’t hold on so tightly. I learned, again, that true freedom lies with awareness and to have that I  must allow myself and my scattered mind to have the space it needs to remember my soul’s desires. It is in that frame of mind and space that I am able to think, speak, and act mindfully allowing me to live an empowered, authentic, and peaceful life. Does it get any better than that :)?

FREE GUIDE Discussing mindful relationships

Schedule a session with Amy

Namaste,

Amy S McCae

My Website

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep it Simple Stupid

When I was in school I had a basketball coach that had a play plan that he referred to as KISS: Keep it Simple Stupid. I don’t believe he thought we were dumb. He was teaching us that keeping it simple would lead to successful out comes.

Being mindful in your daily life does not have to be difficult. There are some simple steps and practices that you can easily begin to use today. For example, I found this wonderful artistic reminder on Pixaby. Notice the words and the energy they carry. So simple, yet so powerful. Just reading them you are reminded of the things you need to do to be mindful.

Another example is”Excellence in Love;” a program I designed to create authentic relationships. The five steps of Awareness, Acceptance, Attitude, Action, and Acknowledgment are designed for introspection and for mindful living. To learn a little more read my FREE GUIDE

DAILY SMALL SIMPLE STEPS TO BECOMING MORE MINDFUL:

Take one breath paying attention to how your body feels

Imagine sending relaxation from the top of your head to your feet

Sit with your arms crossed with one hand on each knee

Set one intention for each day of the week

Choose a no media day or even just for an evening

Use your 5 senses when eating

You don’t have to choose to do all of these, just start with one simple step!

If you would like to learn more or to work with me please visit My Website

Have a beautiful and mindful day!

Namaste,

Amy McCae

Just Breath

Ever feel weighted down or like you are drowning?

JUST BREATH!

Right now, stop. Now feel your breath as it gently pushes through your body causing your chest and belly to rise and fall. Feels much better to be present and conscious of what you are doing doesn’t it?

Paying attention to even one breath is mindful and a great way to start meditating. Meditation is just a heightened state of focused attention. Practicing meditation will allow you to live more mindfully with less stress and with clarity, focus, ease, and grace instead. Being mindful during the day means you can take each moment as it comes without feeling like you are weighted down or drowning.

There are countless ways to meditate or be mindful and countless benefits to practicing. There is even scientific proof of substantial brain changes that occur during meditation and then as a result of practicing, all to your benefit :)! The practices and benefits are entire posts on their own so… I am exited to share all those amazing details with you soon!

For today, let’s just remember to breath. Breath mindfully, intently, peacefully, and consciously. Breath for life and breath for living. Just remember to breath one breath at a time one moment at a time.

Namaste,

Amy S McCae

http://www.amymccae.com

Mindful and authentic relationships FREE GUIDE http://www.creativewellnessomaha.com/Excellence-in-Love.pdf