Description

Let's do a little exercise...just pause for a moment...take a deep breath....allow your chest to rise and your lungs to fill. Then hold the bread at the top for 4 seconds....then slowly blow the breath out pushing all the air out of your lungs. Now say "I can feel the connection to my inner peace" and do the exercise once more..."I can feel the connection to my inner peace".

How are you feeling in this very moment? Perhaps, a sense of calm? WOW! Why don't we do more of that!?!? LOL  As a matter of fact, our guest today Holly Zajur, did just that as she was logging into our zoom interview. It maybe caused her to be "late" to the interview by 30 seconds or so, but we could feel her calm presence within this interview. Think of what an impact it could have on your daily life if you just did that prior to logging into every zoom meeting you have...

And we have a LOT of damn Zoom meetings! lol And I don't know about you, but I could use a little more calm...a little more mindfulness in MY life and Holly is here to remind us of the power of mindfulness.  

Holly is a wellness educator, entrepreneur, and writer, whose work is centered around empowering others with the tools to live their most authentic lives. She loves speaking to the power of mindfulness, yoga, and compassion as tools for supporting mental health and well-being.

She also hosts a podcast, How the Wise One Grows in which every week, she dives into conversations that explore mindfulness, spirituality, wellness, and more to help people tap into their inner wisdom.

In this episode, Holly reminds us of a quote from Shin Zin Yung who says "In Life, suffering is pain times resistance." Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional. You will suffer to the degree with which you resist." You have to be with what already IS (i.e. who you are today all the good, bad and the ugly) to change it. And THAT my beautiful listener...is mindfulness. Stop resisting.

In this episode, Holly reminds us: 

1. Mindfulness has many definitions. It is an awareness of and a wise relationship with what we are sensing, experiencing and feeling. It is NOT eliminating the feelings of stress and anxiety. But, it's taking the time to know ourselves. 
2. Part of mindfulness is about giving yourself compassion in which you feel lost and confused because, in those moments, are the moments when you find yourself.
3. Mindfulness can be listening to your body and taking aligned action, Don't overthink it. There's no doing it "wrong"...there is just the doing.
4. When you're feeling a bit lost, don't fear that state of mind, instead, celebrate it. It means you're not done growing yet.
5. When negative feelings and parts of you bubble up, get curious and ask what you need in the moment. Perhaps this part of you is trying to raise awareness that you are overwhelmed and there are boundaries you need to put into place to protect yourself from the overwhelm.

You can find more of Holly at: 

IG: @hollyzajur  @howthewiseonegrows

Website

And if YOU are ready to face yourself and strive to live your best and most authentic life, follow this podcast by clicking the + sign or follow button on your platform of choice so you will not miss an episode and leave us a review so we can continue to share with you content that resonates with all of us here in the middle.

Make sure we're connected on social media: FB | Dear Midlife and IG | @DearMidlife