MaXIMIze - Spiritual Charity Begins at Home

I know I've reminded us before of what flight attendants teach us about the oxygen masks in airplanes - we have to put our own on before we can help other put theirs on.

Spiritual self-care is just as important as self-care in all other areas of life. Our spiritual selves are an essential part of the battery that keeps us going, that keeps our light lit from within.

If we do not tend our spiritual selves, we find ourselves depleted, jaded, starting not to care about what goes on in our lives or the lives of those we care about. We may find ourselves sucked into the shallowness of inane TV shows or gossip or other one-dimensional ways of living instead of going out into the world and making our little piece of it better, instead of letting our light shine as a beacon to others.

We each need to take the time to shut out the world and connect with our innermost selves - that small, still voice that lives within each of us - in order to be our best selves and to share our best selves - our light - with the world.

My challenge to you this week is to take 15 minutes a day and find a quiet place where you can just sit and be with no distractions. Settle in, and do some breathing exercises to still your body and quiet your mind - inhale to a count of eight, hold to a count of four, exhale to a count of eight. Do this three to five times, as many as it takes to quiet your mind.

Then, on the inhale say "I am," and on the exhale say "enough."

Inhale - "I do"

Exhale - "enough"

Inhale - "I have"

Exhale - "enough"

Repeat the sequence three to five times.

Then, just sit quietly and let the small, still voice within you share its wisdom.

If you find thoughts coming in, let them slide through with no attachment. If you cannot yet do this, go back to the breathing and then the "I am, I do, I have...enough" mantra.

Just 15 minutes a day spent in this manner can have a profound effect on how you view what unfolds over the course of your day.

I hope you take up this practice, this challenge to live your best life right here, right now.

Next week we will discuss journaling as a way to clear our mind and focus our energy.

Until then, namaste!