Anne's Note tells of the lesson of the squirrel. The main article speaks of Authenticity: The Path of Relief. Healthy Living explains how Mudras help balance our energy. The Anne Talk is EZosophy: Living in Ease. The Featured Product this month is Anne's I AM Affirmations CD.

The EZ Mantra: "Everything can be EZ or at least EZier." – Anne Sermons Gillis

  A Note From Anne

Dear ,

Today I saw a squirrel run up and down a tree to find the perfect spot to jump to the roof of the front porch. It was a difficult jump. I watched from my second story window as he strategized. Finally he leaped. He made it. There was no food on that small roof and no way to get to the top of the upper roof. The only place for him to go was back from where he started.

I smiled, knowing how it feels to put effort into a losing idea or life choice. Even though there was time and effort put into the squirrel’s jump, I’m sure he was not traumatized when he had to backtrack. Next time I make a mistake, lose an unsaved article, or go on a fruitless journey, I plan to remember that squirrel. He provided a great lesson in ease. Even though he went the wrong way, he never had a hard attack.

Have a great week. I hope this little squirrel will inspire you to take a different kind of leap – a leap away from ego driven suffering.

Anne

  Authenticity: The Path of Relief

Recently I spoke to a group about living in the body and getting out of your head. I call the lecture “Alive, Awake, Aware: the Power of Now.” Later I told my husband it was a good class. He asked if I told the group that I had bouts of anxiety. He had expected me to say no. He had that “What would they think if they knew?” and “I’m sure you’re keeping it from them” look hiding in his eyes. I replied, “Absolutely, I told them I have periods of anxiety and depression.” I am not a hide anything kind of person. I don’t present one face to the world and live another reality at home. That’s called compartmentalizing and it's a tough one to pull off. It’s also called “keeping up appearances” and it adds to our stress and anxiety load. I take medicine for my situation rather than to deny it exists. My medicine is meditation, breath-work, exercise, clean eating, and feeding my mind with refreshing words of wholeness. These practices dissipate, or at least reduce, the on and off anxiety I deal with.

Spiritually awakened people talk about how they lived with anxiety and when they awakened, they never felt that anxiety again. I wish that were the case with me, but not so. I seem to have a finicky nervous system, one that freaks when a hormone goes astray.  When we wake up to a new and fresh states of living, we assume that we will never have bad times again. We think that our old wounds and problems will disappear forever and everything will be bright and shiny. In a way that is true, but even though a silver spoon does not lose its luster, it has to be washed after we eat, or polished when the surface oxidizes. We are like the spoon: we have to be washed, cleaned, and polished from time to time. There’s no need to be embarrassed about getting tarnished.

It’s best not to try to appear any way. We can just be the way we are, when we are that way. When I am not anxious, I rarely mention anxiety, but when my knees are knocking, the subject comes up. “I’m having a tough day. My nerves are raw.” Then the conversation can move on. My best friend just says, “I’m sorry you’re having a tough day.” She doesn’t try to fix me; she just stays there with me a moment, and then we move on to another topic. Caveat, it’s better to not self-disclose in a business meeting or bank transaction. We need to use common sense as to when to reveal our innermost thoughts and feelings, to whom to disclose them, and how to express them. We need to find a place to share and be willing to keep a grin off our face when we feel like hell. A fake smile constitutes an emotional secret. We can’t thrive when we keep emotional secrets. When we act like we feel one way, when we actually feel another, we forfeit our authenticity.

Fortunately, emotional honesty garners more supporters than critics. It feels good when people discover they are not alone; everyone has character flaws and goes through debilitating emotional states. It’s such a comforting experience to hear, “I know how you feel.” It is, however, important how we share this information. Too often people whine, act like victims, feel sorry for themselves, act angry and self-righteous, complain, or act like martyrs when they share their feelings. When we share emotional states in the preceding manner, we drain others. It’s hard to be around suffering that is surrounded in sticky, feel-sorry-for-me, save-me kind of energy. It is also distasteful to others when we wear our suffering like a badge of courage, assume no one can ever understand our pain, or believe that our suffering makes us unique and special.

We are human; not only do we make mistakes, we do emotional battle. We don’t have emotional wars all the time, but those times do come up. When we are not at our best, we have no business acting like Pollyanna. The next time you are tempted to plaster a fake smile across your face, reconsider. You do not have to act positive and bright when you don’t feel positive and bright. Don’t smile, just act normal, and when you do, you will find that life is EZier and EZier.

Anne

  Anne Art

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  Featured Product This Month

  What is EZosophy?

Click the graphic above to learn more.

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  Healthy Living

Try a Mudra

Everyone is familiar with at least one mudra. When we were little we lifted our hands and placed them palm to palm and prayed. That hand placement is a mudra. The most common type of mudra is a hand gesture that balances electromagnetic energy in the body. We live in an electricity based world and while electricity improves our lives in many ways, it also interferes with our natural body energy movement. Mudras can help us balance our energy.

Each finger on our hand represents one of the five elements:

• Fire - Thumb
• Air - Index finger
• Ether (also known as space or mind) - Middle finger
• Earth - Ring finger
• Water - Little finger

The Vayu Mudra

Here’s a mudra you may want to try. It’s called the Vayu Mudra. Place the index finger on the base of the thumb and press with the thumb, keeping the other three fingers straight. The thumb will wrap over the finger. This mudra helps balance disturbances in our air energy. This mudra is also helpful to reduce stress, anxiety, irritability, nervousness, indecisiveness, impatience, restlessness, and sleeplessness. It focuses the mind. Hold for 10 minutes if you can, but just a couple of minutes of holding the mudra is comforting. Try this when you are riding in a car, during meditation, watching a movie. Use it in bed when you can’t get to sleep or when you are having a panic attack. Work it into your daily life.

If you are interested in more information on mudras and how-to pictures of them, consult the following article. The Speaking Tree website features unique, life-enhancing articles based on eastern culture.

Anne

  Anne Talks

This week's two Anne Talks come from a Sunday morning sharing she presented at the Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Church in The Woodlands, Texas.

Click to hear the Reading  - Tonglen Prayer.

Click to hear her Sunday sermon there.

  Quotes

"Nature is a great teacher, but few people attend class."
— Anne Sermons Gillis

"Our pain polishes us; our joy makes us shine."
— Anne Sermons Gillis

"Tears are words the heart can't express." — Gerard Way

Anne's Schedule All times here are Central Time. You must register with Lone Star College to attend these classes. Sunday, May 3, 2015 10:15 AM service: "EZosophy" Unity of North Houston 11738 Grant Road Cypress, TX 77429 Phone: 281-374-7085 Wed. & Fri., May 6 and 8, 2015    10:00 AM-Noon, "Alive, Awake, Aware: the Power of Now" Lone Star College ALL Program Montgomery Campus   Anne's Services Need a Coach or a Rent-a-Friend? Interested in getting ongoing support? Try life coaching with Anne. Anne offers both short-term and long-term coaching. Contact her for details. Click here to contact Anne by email or Click here to view information on Anne's One Year Seminar and other training too.   Schedule Anne Anne is available to speak at your Sunday Service, lead your retreat, or to be your keynote speaker. She is also available to officiate at weddings and funerals. You may reach Anne by phone at 281-419-1775 or click the button below to contact Anne by email. Want to subscribe to Anne's weekly newsletter? Click the button below to do so. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you can UNsubscribe by clicking this link. If this newsletter inspires you or touches you in some way, please consider donating to help keep the EZ message going out to the world. Donations may be sent to: Anne Sermons Gillis 52 W. Tallowberry Dr. The Woodlands, TX 77381 Or sent via PayPal. Follow Anne:            Share Anne:      Share this newsletter with someone who'd appreciate it. Disclaimer: Some links in this newsletter may be affiliate links and may pay a commission if an item is purchased. Do your own due diligence to determine if a product is appropriate for your use. Editor & Publisher: Charles David Heineke of www.TheDoorway.org.