Know Thyself, & Keep Practicing Anyway

FacebooktwitterlinkedinFacebooktwitterlinkedin

By Kali Jennifer Patrick with A Journey into Health

One of the “benefits” of consistent yoga practice is that you begin to know yourself. And I mean, really up close and all personal-like.

It might be that you notice some physical thing you’ve done unconsciously before–such as standing with all the weight on one leg, hip jutted out to the side while you’re standing in the line at the grocery store, or how you sit hunched over your laptop, working for hours without taking a break for posture, pee, water or food.

Recognizing such physical habits is useful and good, because it increases the likelihood that you’ll make adjustments throughout your day so you’re less sore or tired at the end of it. In fact, this is one of the things I help my private therapeutic yoga clients and beginner students pay attention to as part of starting a yoga practice. And it is certainly a practice, because no one is perfect at this, and certainly not right away. It takes time, but eventually our patterns show themselves, we notice them, we can change, and then we feel better.

In yoga we call these patterns samskaras, and I think of them as super-industrial strength habits, or such well-worn paths that it’s almost impossible at first to believe there’s even another road or that we can do things differently.

I put “benefit” in quotes above because, at least for me, what’s more challenging is when I notice more subtle mental and emotional patterns in myself. A week or so ago one of my mental/emotional samskaras showed up in two different situations: enough that I was able to finally see it. And of course I didn’t like it!!

The first was–somewhat ironically–in a course where I’m learning to chant the Yoga Sutras. Before I enrolled in this course, I’d been listening to CDs in my car, and had almost completed all 4 chapters. Still, I don’t know much about why I’m making a particular sound beyond whether the note is low or high; I don’t know what’s a syllable or what letters are long sounds and which are short or aspirated. In this class, our teacher chants the particular Sutra in question and then we each (individually!) have to chant it back to him, and he corrects us.

Fortunately, these classes are recorded. And what I notice when I go back to the recordings is that when I’m live on the class, I don’t seem to actually hear the corrections that are given to me in a way that I understand, process, and integrate them. I’m too focused on making whatever change is being asked of me and “getting it right” in that very moment. When I do that, I have a very hard time remembering the change later, and can’t apply it well to new instances. Hearing him and me on the recorded version, I realize I didn’t take in what was said. It seems to click in my brain in an altogether different way when I have more time and am feeling more at ease.

The second example came to me in a more pronounced way within a few days. I have been trying to learn Spanish for what feels like a really long time, and I struggle a lot with it. I’m fine “studying” on my own. I’ve used all the nice online apps and videos and I have a grammar book that kicks my ass (pardon my language but it’s true) almost every week. Recently I found a lovely woman from Spain (one of my favorite countries!) who tutors people in Spanish, and so I meet her at a coffee shop sometimes on Fridays.

Toward the end of my last lesson, we took a detour to talk about which letters are accented vs. not. “It’s easy,” she said, while quickly saying and illegibly scribbling down three Spanish words I’d never heard before and the rules associated with them. First as a teacher you never want to tell someone that something is easy, because odds are it isn’t easy for them, but anyway…I tried to ignore the category names even though I felt myself being pulled to wondering what they were…and did seem to understand the first rule (even if I couldn’t write/say what the category of words were called. For the curious, they are here.)

When she got to the second rule though, I heard it incorrectly and thus the example she was using didn’t make any sense to me. (In yoga we call this viparyaya–wrong perception.) And instead of assuming my understanding was incorrect, I kept incredulously repeating my incorrect view to her, assuming that she must have said something inconsistent and not realized it. This went on for some time, with me increasingly feeling stupid and hopeless over this “easy” thing, until something happened where I realized my mistake (which was really a stupid mistake). Then everything suddenly became clear. (In yoga we call this pramana–correct perception.) I can’t tell you what happened to make me suddenly “get it”. I think I might have just stopped fighting her!

These two circumstances were not only exhausting but were not pleasant to notice about myself. So what happened? First, I felt overwhelmed. Too much information was coming at me too quickly (especially in the case of the Spanish lesson). I’d felt this before while working in high-tech. We used to call it a “fire-hose” of information. I was tired because my brain couldn’t keep up. I was also frustrated because my brain couldn’t keep up. (Forget about the fact that I’m studying Sanskrit and Spanish on back-to-back days for the moment. ? )

Second, I’m too worried about pleasing my teachers. I’m too worried about being right: or more appropriately, about being wrong. This has a lot of ties to my childhood experiences that I won’t go into here, but it’s sufficient to say that it feels dangerous and unsafe for me to be wrong.

Now in the case of the Spanish lesson I can certainly ask my teacher to go slower. In the case of the Sutras class (where I’m on a call with other people), that’s not feasible. And it’s certainly possible that even if I asked my Spanish tutor nicely, she’d forget and go back to teaching the way she teaches. So, the only way I can see to change this is to change ME.

How do I change me? Consistent yoga practice.

This is frustrating and fascinating and motivating all at the same time!

yoga


Ransomware targeting law firms a big problem

Category : Blog

FacebooktwitterlinkedinFacebooktwitterlinkedin

By: Eyal Gallico, owner of TopMac

There is a new age of virus activity called ransomware that is attacking businesses — and law firms in particular — that is no longer containable by antivirus software or firewalls so it’s essential that firms educate their employees about the risks, says DSM Computing Solutions Inc. founder and CEO Sheldon Waters.

“We are seeing this happen on an almost weekly basis — users are clicking on these emails and firms are infected with viruses,” he tells AdvocateDaily.com. “The way these viruses are being distributed is by users clicking on emails that look like real emails from their bank or Apple or Amazon. It’s really bad.”

The ransomware virus encrypts the data on all your computer systems and makes it unusable. A message will pop up demanding you to pay a ransom to some unknown entity in order to get “the key” to un-encrypt your data, Waters explains.

“The new attack is at the user and this means that proper training and awareness has never been more crucial,” he says. “It’s important that firms have a strategy to help educate users and prevent this from happening. If they haven’t been hit already, it’s just a matter of time.”

Waters describes these viruses as “very nasty” and says that often people who have been hit with them feel as if they have no choice but to pay the ransom to gain access to their data.

“And the more excruciating part of it is that the ransom that you have to pay is with something called Bitcoins, an Internet-based currency. It’s complex to obtain and to transact with Bitcoins. That being said, once you pay these people you’re like a sitting duck. Two or three months later they will come back and hit you again because they know that you’ll pay them.”

Waters says when DSM is called in to deal with one of these viruses, the technology company does not pay the ransom and instead, attacks the virus to shut it down to enable for the restoration of the data.

“There’s no way you want to be kept in the pond of available targets for them to go after,” he says.

In this environment of viruses, backing up to an offsite system is more important than ever before, he adds.

“Many lawyers, especially in the smaller firms, backup their data onto a separate hard drive that they plug in and if that hard drive is visible to that computer, the virus will get the hard drive too,” he says.

Waters says the best way law firms can protect themselves is through training employees how to identify a fake email and not click on it.

DSM has introduced a new education and testing service to help firms train employees how to recognize risky emails.

virus-on-computer


Overcoming Obstacles to Your Success

FacebooktwitterlinkedinFacebooktwitterlinkedin

Have you ever wondered how it is that some people are so successful when it comes to reaching their goals in business?  When it comes to following our dreams as an entrepreneur we often struggle with overcoming obstacles to our success.  As much as we want to have the life of our dreams, there is a disconnect between what we want and follow through to making it happen.  We want independence from the 8 to 5 job.  We want vacations abroad, of sunny beaches and snow capped mountains.  We want the ability to be generous to our loved ones, to give to charities that have special meaning to us, and to live the life of our deepest desire.  Unfortunately, as much as we want to be successful down to our bones we seem to be struck by internal limitations that keep us bound.  These limitations can include: fear, self-doubt, procrastination, limiting beliefs or a negative mindset, or even the effects of our past.  Knowing those things that hinder our success then gives us the opportunity to find ways to overcome.  Listed here are suggested tools that are proven ways to achieve more success in your life and yield the results of great benefits.

Success Tool #1

Take Control of your thoughts.

As we take note of these particular limitations a common denominator is the thoughts as well as the words that we speak that either work for or against us.  Scripture tells us that the power of life and death is in the tongue (Proverbs 18:21).  Words have the power to build up or destroy (Proverbs 12:6) and so a man thinks so is he (Proverbs 23:7).   God spoke the world into being by the power of His words (Hebrews 11:3).    Our thoughts create our emotions and affect our behavior.  It is not what has happened to us or what is occurring in our lives that affects our behavior; it is what we believe about what is occurring that matters.  We can create change in our lives by gaining control of our thoughts and words this is key to breaking through to success.

Success Tool #2

Visualization

Visualization activates the creative powers of your sub-conscious mind.  As we visualize we focus the brain to notice available resources that were always there but were previously unnoticed.  Focusing on being successful aligns with faith as faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet manifested (Hebrews 11:1).  Visualization magnetizes and attracts to you the people, resources, and opportunities you need to achieve your goals.

Success Tool #3

Focus

Focus and clarify your values, passion & purpose and align them with the choices you make from day to day.  Seek to practice every day what will be fundamental to your success.  When you focus and set your intention it becomes the fuel for your actions and lays out the pathway.  For whatever you think on will grow just as whatever you water or nurture will grow.  Think about the farmer who plants, so whatever you sow you will also reap (Galatians 6:7).  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not (Galatians 6:9).  Focus for a double minded man or an indecisive man is unstable in all his ways (James 1:8).

 Jesus came to give us life and life more abundantly (John 10:10), which means God is on our side. That our longing to use our talents to create the life of our dreams allows for the light of Christ to shine brightly through us, that others may see and seek out the Lord through us.  Our steps are ordered by the Lord (Psalm 37:23) and if we acknowledge Him in all our ways He shall direct our path and we don’t lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5 -6).

You are more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus (Romans 8:37) and you can overcome those obstacles that limit you with some consistent yet simple techniques and steps.  Following these steps will prepare you with new tools to overcome challenges that try to get in the way of your progress.

So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it (Isaiah 55:11)

Go forth and prosper!

Rachel Lupercio, M.A., Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist with Excelerated Living

success-people


National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week

Category : Blog

FacebooktwitterlinkedinFacebooktwitterlinkedin

Hunger and Homelessness

This week is National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week – the week before Thanksgiving where, reflecting on our own thankfulness, Caritas work to heighten awareness and support for those experiencing homelessness and hunger in our communities. 

Caritas of Austin Leaders Take the SNAP Challenge

This year at Caritas of Austin has decided to make this year’s National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week one of education and empathy. With the help of their staff, volunteers, donors, and community supporters They have challenged themselves to not only observe Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, but experience it on a personal level.

One way that the organization is doing this is by having their Executive Director, Jo Kathryn Quinn, take the SNAP Food Challenge. This means she will be limited to spend $1.27 on each meal she eats for the next week, which is the average amount a SNAP client spends per meal. Reflecting on this challenge, Jo Kathryn says, “In all fairness to those who face this challenge everyday, I recognize my experience is actually nothing like yours. I can at any point go back to my cushy lifestyle. My hope is to gain insight and abundant empathy that will ultimately translate into real changes for my fellow Americans experiencing poverty and hunger.

They will also be getting input from Caritas of Austin Case Managers, volunteers, and donors as to why ending hunger and homelessness in America should be a priority. At the beginning of next week, they will have an updated blog post documenting these full experiences – from Jo Kathryn and Lane’s SNAP Challenge to wisdom Case Managers are sharing with the community to what the Caritas of Austin team learned as a whole. You can join them on this journey by following on  social media pages, Facebook and Twitter


Resources for Blogging Efforts

FacebooktwitterlinkedinFacebooktwitterlinkedin

Maribel Garcia Valls, MPH, ACC. spoke to North Austin Influencers on Blogging to attract your ideal client.  Below are some links she shared to help with your blogging efforts:

Website Options: 

WordPress : This one is the best and most respected blogging platforms. It has so many options, yet it also has a bigger learning curve. Just note that you will have to pay for a hosting site with this option.

Weekly: This one is simple and easy to use if you want to build the site yourself. However, Google prefers WordPress for blogs.

WixThis is also a simple website and a cheaper option, but it also very limited. Again, Google prefers WordPress for blogs.

Blogging Tools:

Headline Analyzer:  This tool will help you create amazing headlines.

Hootsuite:  This tool will help you schedule all your social media at one time.

Mailchimp: Send newsletters for free using Mailchimp.

Read more from Maribel Garcia Valls, MPH, ACC.

Hiring Bloggers to Write for You: 

Mundu Media:  Monica Pena can help with this, contact her for more details.

Fiverr:This website will allow you to hire freelancers that can help you build websites, content, etc.

Blogging Coach: 

Inbound Marketing University: I highly recommend Kevin Carney’s blog coaching sessions and online school. He has helped me so much and for an amazing low price of $25 per month. You can’t beat that! He’s amazing!!! Here is his e-mail: [email protected]

 


How to backup your iPhone

FacebooktwitterlinkedinFacebooktwitterlinkedin

By: Eyal Gallico, owner of TopMac

So a good friend of mine brought up this issue.  He is a techie guy, and still had some problems backing up his phone data.  This article is dedicated to him, and for you, iPhone users who have a Mac or Windows.

iOS has two options to back-up your iPhone, iPad or iPod. The first and most thorough method is to use the iTunes software.  Your Mac has it preinstalled and you can get windows from here.

After you install the software, plug your phone into the computer.  Your iPhone will show up on the left side.  Choose your backup destination.  The backup can be very big, so consider your options.

iCloud –  will back up to Apple cloud and will use your storage capacity.

This Computer – will save a local copy to your computer, This option saves your wifi, alarm clocks, Bluetooth and much more.

Click the “Back up Now” button and let it run.

iphone-back-up
You can restore in the same way, if you already have a backup setup.

After the process ends, you can see if your backup finished successfully in  iTunes Preferences > Devices. 

You should see the name of your device with the date and time that iTunes created the backup.

If you encrypted your backup, you should also see a lock beside the name of your device.

iphone-back-up

It’s always a good idea to have at least one backup on your computer in case something happens.  And we all know that things happen when you least expect it!

Images are trademarks of Apple Inc.


Fall Is In the Air

FacebooktwitterlinkedinFacebooktwitterlinkedin

By:  Rachel Lupercio, LMFTA, Excelerated Living

With the change from summer to fall comes a regrouping for many of us to kick it in gear from our playful season to a more disciplined lifestyle.  Students have begun to settle in with homework and waking up early and parents stress over keeping it all together.  Suddenly the seriousness of life begins to take a toll on the family as the everyday struggles take hold day in and day out.   Before you know it the upcoming holidays will begin making their appearance in the department stores and our mindsets will shift again as the build up towards the end of the year unfolds.

We as humans are very busy with all the doing of life.  Perhaps though we can take a step back and rewind how we determine to walk through this season and dare I say take it one step further our life.  I would bring to mind for your consideration that as humans we innately crave interaction and connection with others.  If in fact that is true then our internal operating system could be activated and threaded in our doing by keeping in mind our need and value we place on relationships.  When we bring to consciousness our values in creating a life that is fulfilling we can then attach our doing with our being.  Being in a state of mindfulness towards our values assists us with remembering why we do what we do.  That is to say, whether it is work or play knowing what you value most and letting them assist in determining your behavior and decisions make for a greater chance to have the life you most desire as a human being.

Fall Is In the Air


Meet Jason Williams: Inspiring young people to reach their potential and beyond

FacebooktwitterlinkedinFacebooktwitterlinkedin

Jason’s passion for fitness only rivals his passion to teach youth. A former Director of Operations for Gold’s Gym’s in Idaho and District Manager of Gold’s Gyms here in Austin, Jason has over 15 years of fitness experience from all over the U.S. Now back in Austin, Jason’s focus has shifted to the childhood obesity epidemic plaguing our society and his answer is The Fitness School.

The Fitness School is an after-school enrichment program that teaches fitness as it’s curriculum. The Fitness School teaches children the importance of fitness, and offers the tools and resources they need to make it a part of their lives. Their main goal is to be affordable and provide lessons in overall fitness and health to everyone.

He encourages all he influences to help reach their goal of bringing the Fitness School to life, and inspiring young people to reach their potential, and beyond! “My goal is to bring about change; to change the way that we all perceive fitness. If we all work together, we can.” – Jason Williams .

Fitness School

 


How Leaders Beat Self Defeat

FacebooktwitterlinkedinFacebooktwitterlinkedin

By Chris Makell, CEO and Founder of Spark of Brilliance Consulting

This episode launches a NEW series on the Fundamental Laws of Power & Influence!

Each LAW will be presented with an historical reference and how you can use it as a leader to beat self defeat. As always, you’ll receive key takeaways that you can use immediately.

These episodes will be BRIEF — about 5-7 minutes of content, so you can listen on the go and gain a ton of insight into what’s possible for you as a leader.

Enjoy and I’d love to hear what you think about the Laws of Power & Influence for leaders to beat self defeat!

~~~~~

In this episode, you’ll learn about a fundamental law of power an influence that says, when you say less, you are in far more control.

Listen HERE.

Talk less


How to Get Comfortable With Fear: A Visualization Exercise?

Category : Blog

FacebooktwitterlinkedinFacebooktwitterlinkedin

By Maribel Garcia Valls, MPH, ACC with Bee Happi

Fear

Here is a quick visualization exercise about fear. Take a few moments to find a quite space to practice this exercise, then journal about your experience.

A Visualization Exercise To Get Comfortable with Fear

Imagine yourself falling into a dark hole. You fall deeper and deeper into this black abyss. You don’t know where it ends or where you are going. The only thing you know is that you are falling and scared. The initial shock wears off and you gain some sense of control.

As you realize that you can’t control your current situation, you decide to control your inner peace instead. When you do this, tiny bright lights begin to appear. This calms you and you feel less afraid.

You are no longer falling, you are flying and this gives you joy. Then more lights turn on. Now, you can see where you are going. You realize that the darkness was created by your fear and your bravery brought out the light.

Now take a deep breath and shout:

“GET THE FEAR OUT OF HERE! I am brave!”

Bee Happi, Be Happy

What is fear? According to Psychology Today, fear is  “An anxious feeling, caused by our anticipation of some imagined event or experience.”

Fear is a little monster in the dark that pops up sometimes when you want to make a change. Fear floods your mind with “what if’s” and doubts. Getting past your fears can be scary. It means taking risks and not knowing that everything will be ok. Sometimes, getting to comfortable in these safe spaces prevents many people from living out their best life with authentic happiness.

If you liked this exercise, then you’ll love this one.

Final Happy Thoughts

Being open to the experience of fear and the “uncomfortable zone” is important. As you evolve and grow in the process of self-discovery, consider reeducating your mind about fear.

Fear is an important emotion for when you are in danger and it gets weakened with overuse. Training your mind to use fear effectively will help you rest the emotion when you are safe. It will also give you the full strength of the emotion the next time you get chased by a lion or experience real danger.

Here are some inspiring works from Marianne Williamson:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be?…

It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

 


Get Updates

Receive monthly information on resources, event reminders, meet influencers, and more in our area.

Follow Us

FacebooktwitterlinkedinFacebooktwitterlinkedin

Recent Posts