Note #010

1/8/18
 
That’s fortuitous, one eight one eight. Good day to start a new monthly newsletter.
Thanks for joining YOUTH Positive on our grand adventure for 2018!
 
On this adventure together, we want you to be lighter and freer this year. To be less stressed. To feel less overwhelmed. To enjoy more of the good times. To have more fun. To live a more meaningful life.
 
So with that aim in mind, we’ll share practices to incorporate into what you’re already doing in life. These practices will not be “just one more” thing you're asked to do. In fact, they’re meant to be a subtraction. Let’s take away the mind that just won’t slow down, the business and the frantic pace that runs us from sun up until way past sun down, and the stress of relationships--both with others and with ourselves.
 
Let’s get started with three simple things you can incorporate into what you already do every day.

Stop for just a moment.

When you come to a red light, let your whole self stop.
Turn off the radio.
Take a deep breath. You’re kind of stuck, in the best of ways.
So allow yourself to stop.
Allow your mind to stop its frantic pace of planning for the future and ruminating about the past.
Be mentally still.
Be at peace.
You'll get there, wherever it is you're going. You will.

After a couple of times of entirely stopping at the red lights, you’ll long for the yellow lights. You'll love the red ones. You’ll come to savor being still while the rest of the world zooms around you. Just for the blessed few moments of the red light meditation, there's no where else to go and there's nothing else to do.

Take care of others.

Whoa! Don’t hit that send, or post, button just yet.
Especially if you’re hot under the collar. If you’re really feeling like you need to give someone a piece of your mind, wait.
Just. A. Moment.
Before you send or post that message.
Is this really they way you want to show up in the world?
Is this really your best self?

Stop to think “If I were on the receiving end of this message, how would it make me feel?” Remember, we get what we give. Remember, you are kind and good. And remember, that’s how you want to show up in the world.
Kind.
Considerate.
Compassionate.

Take a deep breath. Step away for a moment.
You can always say it later, but you can never take it back. 

Take care of yourself.

Water, the best no-calorie drink in all the world.
So refreshing.
So nourishing.
So useful as a check-in practice.
Next time you take a drink of water, take time to feel gratitude--just a little speck of being grateful that you have clean water whenever you want it. That it's portable.
That you have something pure and perfect in your life.

A little moment of gratitude. A little moment of self-care.
A little moment of connecting to the earth, remembering where water comes from, reminding yourself that you too are of the earth and the elements.
Gratitude can lift your spirits, can help you take perspective, and can help you see the good.
Be grateful, even for your water.

As always, teacher approved, kid friendly, and parent supported.
Thanks for sharing the positive vibe with us!