I can remember how awesome it was to step outside on a rainy day when I was a young girl.  My brothers and I would spend hours on end running through puddles, riding bikes through puddles, racing little boats in the gutter, and playing make believe games.  The rain seemed to make it even more fun and adventurous.

It seemed so strange to me and it still does that some kids were not allowed to play in the rain.  Instead they had to find things to doors and miss out on the rain.  I thank my mom and dad for letting us play outside and explore because those were some of the moments where I feel I discovered my passions in life.

I read this great book called, “Last Child In The Woods, Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder.”  In this book he tells his sotry of growing up as a boy, his exploration outdoors on a daily basis.  Granted it’s not always safe to just let your kids run where ever they want to go these days but with super vision and outings our children can get their chance to be in nature too.

Here’s some of our favorite things to do with the kids…

1.  Play at the park

2.  A day at the beach

3.  Hiking at a local trail

4.  Quiet walks

5.  Playing in the yard

6.  Helping out in a garden, or local farm

7.  Climbing a big tree

There are so many more things to do, nature is all around us.  So how about you make a list of ideas and encourage those children to get out of the house and into nature, you can join them too and have a lot of fun together.

Love you all,

Guru Shakti

Everyone has different ways of disciplining or not disciplining their children.  I won’t touch on all the ways to discipline a child but I wll share with you a helpful tip in raising your child.

I used to feel so awful when I got upset or mad with my kids, I felt like I wasn’t doing a good job in being a loving and respectful parent.

My husband and I believe spanking is a big no no, we also believe in mutual respect and communication when it comes to raising our kids.  But this does not mean you can never and will never get mad or loose your temper with your little ones.

In a session I had with Guru Sing he addressed this issue with me and his point made a lot of sense.  If your child sees that no matter what their behavior is no one in the home ever gets upset is a horrible thing to show a kid.  Why?  When it’s time for that kid to go out into the world and they are not with their mommy and daddy, they will have their ass handed to them if they display behavior that is inappropriate.

By the way I’m not saying get mad all the time, like a big child.  Of course you must use your anger consciously and not over use it or it won’t be effective.

I understand where parents come from when they want to practice gentile parenting, with no anger, but if you really think about it that is not how it is in the real world.  To have a well rounded child I believe we must be loving, respectful, and sometimes show them that we are upset when they are displaying behavior that is not so wonderful.  Then show them what good behavior looks like, show them by your own actions, a good example speaks very loudly.

“I am who I am and that is that, you are who I am can you imagine that?”

What does this mean?  In this world that we live in we feel separate, and it appears we are separate from one another.  But this is not the case.  When you hear someone say, “We are all one,”  It may sound like some super spiritual, and hippie talk, but this is the reality that we live in.

There is something called Inspirational mirroring, this is when you make a practice out of seeing yourself in others.  That means you see your reflection in your surroundings, in the people you interface with in your life every day.  Sometimes this can be so challenging.  When we communicate with someone who seems to be displaying the most ridiculous, mean, rude, strange, and other kinds of weird behavior we tend to think something is wrong with them.  Internally we may feel we could never ever act that way, never do those thing.

Since I started practicing this I have been able to see so many lessons that I have yet to learn, lessons that need to be over come.  When ever I feel annoyed or upset by someone a big red flag goes off in my head and it says, “Guru Shakti, this is apart of your reflection, you need to work through this, don’t ignore it or the reflection will keep coming back.”  Now I’m not saying I’m perfect and this works all the time, but the more I practice this the more compassion I have for those around me, and for myself.

I ask you this, “Can you begin to take responsibility for your world?  Can you see your reflection in others?”  Go out into the world today and try inspirational mirroring for the first time.  Look around your world, what do you notice, how do  you feel?  If you don’t like what the reflection is reflecting back then perhaps you need to give yourself some TLC.

Since your world begins and ends with you, you can improve your reflection by taking care of yourself.  I know if I miss a morning of daily yoga or meditation I feel rigid and my world seems tough, I see is in the reflection around me.  So you can bet your butt I’m up each morning doing that yoga and meditation.  For you it may be a nice work out, a hot bath, a cold shower for hydrotherapy, a brisk walk, and so on.

Here’s a question I get all the time.

“So if this is true then why is there so much suffering in the world.”  At the root of the suffering it all comes down to feeling seperate.  Most people don’t understand or are ready to embrace the fact that we are all one.  Since we are all one that means your suffering is my suffering, all those children starving, is us starving too, and yes the war on terror is our own internal terror.  When you begin to really embrace this your capacity to help outside yourself opens up.

I’ve witnessed it in my own life.  I used to be incredibly self consumed which is not bad at all, I needed to go through that, but it left little room or desire to help anyone else.  Over the years, and even now I am working on handling the internal things that keep me bound to me me me, and allows me more space for all my other sisters and brothers who need help.  It is awesome and challenging, but so worth it.

So to conclude, you may be feeling this is ridiculous or wonderful, either way what do you have to loose by exploring this yourself?

Like I said before, How about trying this out, “Be a inspirational mirror er, and transform the reflection of your life.”

LOVE YOU ALL,

Guru Shakti