Our next CHI FOR YOURSELF guest makes her second visit to the show. Suzanne Scurlock-Durana is one of the world’s leading authorities on conscious awareness and its transformational impact on the healing process. On her last visit she discussed her book Full Body Presence: Learning to Listen to Your Body’s Wisdom. This time we’ll hear about her latest work– Reclaiming Your Body: Healing From Trauma and Awakening to Your Body’s Wisdom

Suzanne Scurlock-Durana

This show will be not be available as a live listen. It’s going to be pre-recorded due to a scheduling conflict. I’ll give you the heads-up post on GenuLines as to when it will be available. 

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I hope you enjoyed our 30 day “challenge” on finding your purpose driven life– and that the points in the series are helping you toward living your genuine life. Maybe you’re feeling some resistance and you just can’t seem to get started. If that’s the case, check this new CHI FOR YOURSELF “freebie.”

This is a list of suggestions and affirmations to give you more focus.You can use it as your own personal challenge. Or just refer to it from time to time as you feel you need it.  It’s yours free from CHI FOR YOURSELF and you can grab it by clicking on the FREE Stuff button: 

JohnK 7-21-2017

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Well, we’ve come to the end of our 30 Day Living With Purpose Challenge. Time flies when you’re having fun, doesn’t it?

The idea was to move you toward living a more intentional and purpose-driven life. And to have these daily blog posts inspire some serious thought and discussion.

Here’s what we covered over the past 30 Days..

1. Welcome And What Does It Mean To Live With Purpose
2. Why It’s Important To Find Your Purpose
3. What Is Your Purpose?
4. The Connection Between Purpose and Happiness
5. Why What You Do For A Living Matters
6. How To Find Your Calling
7. Your Purpose Doesn’t Have To Be Huge To Make A Difference
8. Small Things You Can Start Doing Right Now To Make A Difference
9. Do You Know What’s Sucking Up Your Time
10. Going From Existing To Truly Living Life
11. Let’s Talk About TV And The Likes
12. How Much Time Are You Spending On Facebook
13. Embrace Your Hobbies And Interests
14. Never Stop Learning
15. The Big Benefits Of Traveling The World
16. Creating Purposeful And Meaningful Relationships
17. When You Have A Purpose, You’re Taking Action And Aren’t Afraid Of Failure
18. Living With Purpose Is Good For Your Spiritual Health
19. Guess What? Money And “Stuff” Doesn’t Make You Happy
20. Living With Purpose Makes You A Kinder Person
21. When You Live With Purpose, You Don’t Have Time To Worry
22. When You Live A Purpose Driven Life, Your Values Are Clear
23. You Realize The World Doesn’t Revolve Around You
24. Aligning Yourself With Your Purpose Through Mediation And Prayer
25. Avoid Temptations And Wrong Paths Along The Way
26. Living With Purpose Is About Serving Your Community
27. Your Loved Ones Will Benefit From A Purpose Driven Life
28. Your Purpose May Evolve And Change As You Do… And That’s Ok
29. What Do You Want To Be Remembered For?

The next question is of course where you go from here. That’s up to you. I’ve given you a lot of ideas, tools, and suggestions to craft a more purposeful life for yourself and your loved ones.

What you do with that information is up to you. I hope you’ve been following along, doing a lot of thinking, and taking action.

I encourage you to continue on this journey. Keep bringing more meaning and purpose into your life.

Keep reading, keep learning, and keep on making progress.

JohnK 6-30-2017
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Here’s an interesting question for you. How will people remember you when your gone?

Since our life on this beautiful earth will end some day, it’s only natural that we want to leave some sort of legacy. What’s yours going to be? How will you leave your mark?

Living a purpose driven life makes this a lot easier.

You know your direction. And the impact you want to have on your family, your loved ones, your friends, your community, and the world at large.

If that sounds a little overwhelming right now, don’t let it intimidate you. You’ll get there.

The growth can be dramatic. And you’ll notice. Others feel the effects of our intentional and open-hearted living, too.

Even small changes and accomplishments are nothing to laugh at or dismiss. Raising your children well is an amazing feat and a wonderful legacy to leave behind in the world.

Then again, the your small community garden may outlive you. It can show others how tasty and rewarding it can be to grow carrots and tomatoes.

As you start to live with more purpose, you may get to a point where you’re wondering what else you can do. You may be asking yourself how you can help people around you and how you can make the world a better place.

Going inside to find your legacy is a great way to answer that question.

Here’s a little exercise you can do today.

Get out a piece of paper and write down what you would like your eulogy to be.

It will condense those values that are important to you. Set it aside for a little while, then come back and read it.

As you do that, compare that eulogy’s values to the ones that most influence your life right now.

What do you need to change? What do you need to work on to make sure your life aligns with the eulogy you wrote for yourself?

That’s your game plan. It may take a while and it may change over time, and that’s all right.

What’s important is that you live your days with purpose and make the most of the years you’re given on this earth.

Remind yourself of this. And live a life full of the things that you’ll be proud to be remembered for.

JohnK 6-29-2017
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Overheard:  “Notice when your heart leaps up in joyous exuberance…In these moments the voice of your spirit is speaking directly to you.”

                            ~ Justine Willis Toms

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I hope that throughout this challenge you’ve been thinking a lot about living with purpose. And all that that means to you right now.

As you apply intention to your life you’re changing things here and there. All the better to align with your purpose. You may even discover your passion and your calling. You’re working toward making things happen.

That’s great, but there’s something we haven’t talked about much. It’s that we all grow and change as time goes by. And with that our purposes change.

Let’s say you’re the mother of small children. Right now, living with purpose may mean spending as much time as possible raising your kids. That may mean being a stay at home mom, working only part time, or working from home.

That’s great, but know that the situation can change as time goes by.

For instance, in a few years the kids will all be in school. You’ll find yourself with more time on your hands. It would be fine to switch focus and get back into your career or try something completely new.

Things change and evolve. You change and evolve. Your purpose may evolve as well and that’s normal.

That’s why it’s a good idea once in a while to stop and think about what’s important to you. Use the time to make sure you’re still living a purpose driven life based on your current values and ideas.

It’s o.k. to change and adjust if things no longer feel like a good fit.

It’s fine to do this “on the fly” as you move through your days and weeks. But it’s also helpful to stop every few months and give it serious thought.

We are creatures of habit. Often we’ll stick to a plan, an idea, or a routine because that’s how we’ve always done it. Or it could be we figure we have to tough it out.
 

That’s admirable, and there’s a time and place for this. It’s also good to take some time and, if necessary, second guess what your doing.

You want to live life with intention and with purpose. Take the necessary time to make sure what you’re doing is a good fit.

If it is, great… carry on. If it isn’t, make some changes until what you do aligns with your purposes.

JohnK 6-28-2017
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In an earlier post, we saw how we can combine community life with purpose to bring about permanent change.

Those changes can be large or small. And they all add up. We can make a difference.

Today we’ll take a look at the impact living a purpose driven life can have on your loved ones.

You Set A Good Example
The most powerful effect of living a life with purpose is setting a good example for those around you.
 
 

Your spouse or significant other sees what you’re doing. And you can be sure your kids are watching. So are your family and friends.

Living a purpose driven life can be quite contagious. Get started and see how much of an effect you can have on those around you.

They’ll get a direct benefit {from your attention and patience, for example). Or through your efforts to spend more quality time with those most important to you. Or you’ll inspire them to live a more purposeful life themselves.

You’re More Confident In Yourself
As you start to live with purpose and see the impact even small acts can have you’re more confident in yourself. As you gain self-confidence, you start to feel more comfortable in your skin.

You’re making a difference when you live with purpose. This, in turn, makes you a more confident parent, spouse, and friend. Your loved ones will benefit because you are no longer busy second guessing yourself. You take massive action that benefits everyone.

You’re Happier And More Fulfilled
One of the big reasons self-confidence is so important is its direct link with your happiness.

And living a life with purpose brings a big measure of fulfillment. So it’s no wonder you’re happier and more content when you infuse your life with purpose and intention.

Living with purpose has a positive impact on the people who are closest to you. And on others who play an important part in your life.

Living a purpose driven life makes you a better parent. A better spouse. A better coworker. And a better friend.

Bottom line? The kindness you exude will help you become a better person

Keep that in mind as you continue on the journey to living with purpose. Use it as motivation and encouragement on those days when things get tough and you’re ready to give up.

Enjoy the process.

JohnK 6-27-2017
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Overheard:  “We either live with intention or exist by default.”

                  ~ Kristin Armstrong

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Welcome back to CHI FOR YOURSELF!

Hear the CHI FOR YOURSELF interview with Dan Millman this Thursday, June 30th, at 1 pm Pacific, 4 pm Eastern time at chiforyourself.com

Living with purpose isn’t always easy. We get busy, we get stressed out, or we get distracted.

Most everyone experiences this. When it happens we no longer hear that faint but persistent guiding inner voice.

Without a clear purpose and solid intentions to live our life around, it becomes easy to get off course. We have to find a way to make sure we can get back on track and realign ourselves with the purpose we’ve chosen.

A couple of the most effective ways to do this are prayer and meditation.
 
 

Spiritual leaders have used these techniques for millennia. But you don’t have to maintain a rigid discipline to experience your own purpose driven life.

Both prayer and meditation allow you to tune out distractions and give you clarity of mind.

Once your mind quiets, you can start to listen to that inner voice. You’ll become clear on the things and you value most.

It doesn’t matter what religion you belong to, or if you belong to one. It doesn’t matter whether you consider yourself a spiritual person or not.

Prayer and meditation can benefit anyone.

One of the easiest forms of meditation is a simple breathing exercise. You can do this anytime, anywhere.                

You might want to begin the practice in a calm and quiet spot. This will allow you to focus on it and get used to it without too many distractions.

Once you’ve practiced for a little while though, you can use it to calm and clear your mind whenever you need it.
 
 
 

A Simple Breathing Meditation
The easiest type of meditation is focusing on your breath. It will help you tune out mind chatter when you breathe in and breathe out.

Notice how the air feels flowing through your nose. Pay attention to how your abdomen rises and falls, expands and contracts.

If you get distracted or your mind wanders bring your awareness back to your breath.

Start by practicing for 30 seconds to a minute. Over time you can increase the duration.

Give this a try and see if you find it helpful. From there read up on other meditation techniques.

There are lots of great books out there on the topic. Guided meditations and even mobile apps can make your experience effective and enjoyable.

Trust the process. And be patient with yourself.

JohnK 6-24-2017
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We’ve been talking about living with purpose for quite some time.

By now you’re wondering what you may want to change or tweak in your own life to live with more purpose and intention.

Let’s say you’ve started to incorporate some of the ideas we’ve looked at.

You’re starting to live with more purpose.

Old habits are hard to break and it’s not uncommon to slip back into familiar behavioral patterns. But those habits no longer align with your wish to live with more intention.

Add to that the things and people tempting you to stray from your path.

For example, you may have the best of intentions to live healthier. You want to take better care of your body. But when you walk into the break room at work there’s a big box of doughnuts tempting you.

Or you could be making a real effort to be more patient and understanding with your young children. Even on days when they seem to be pushing all your buttons and testing the limits of that new patience.

It happens.

Life can be messy. There will always be things that go wrong. People can lead us down the wrong path, whether they mean to or not.

The best way to deal with temptations is to expect them. They’re going to show up sooner or later. If they surprise you, you’ll be more likely to give in. If you know they’re coming, you can better prepare for them. Learn from each temptation. Realize that each one you avoid makes you stronger and more determined to stay your course.

Even with the best intention and our guard up against temptation we can end up heading down the wrong path. Life happens and sometimes things are out of our control.

At other times, we may not notice that we’ve taken a wrong turn until we’re well along that wrong path. It’s o.k. It happens. It means it’s time to change course and get back on track.

This is why it’s important to do frequent reviews of what we’re doing.

This helps us see if what we’re doing is still aligned with our intentions, our purposes, and our values. Make sure you take this time for reflection.

Adjust as needed as you go along on this exciting journey of living a purpose driven life.

JohnK 6-25-2017
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Overheard:  “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style. – Maya Angelou

                          ~ Maya Angelou

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When you start to live with purpose you’ll have an eye opening experience. You’ll see that life is about so much more than existing in a tiny little bubble.

Living a full and meaningful life means being part of a community and serving it in a variety of ways. Let’s look at a few of them.

Your Inner Circle
The first community you encounter and the one you spent most of your time in is your very own inner circle. This is where you’ll have the most influence when you live with more purpose and intention.

Your family and close friends make up your inner circle. These are the people you spent the most time with. It may also include your coworkers.

This is the community you should focus on first. Start making a difference with the people you’re closest too.

Your Local Community
Your next step will be your local community. It’s amazing how much change you can affect here when you put your mind to it.

Let’s say you want to live a life where you’re more aware of the impact you have on your environment. You shop smarter, recycle and reuse more at home.

From here you can branch out into your local community and encourage positive change. Start a community garden and encourage people to recycle more.

Get involved with communal policy that’s focused on environmental efforts. Join the organizations that are already present within your own local community.

Finding Your Niche In The Global Community
One of the most obvious features of life today is how connected we are. It touches most everyone’s life.

Mass communication, the internet, faster and safer travel. All make it possible to connect with people from around the world.

Companies with global reach let employees connect with team members from different countries. And different cultures.

We may connect online with people who enjoy the same hobby. We do more traveling today than ever before. The result is exposure to different ways of living and different customs. We watch TV shows and movies from various parts of the world. We have in fact become a global community. And that gives us a unique opportunity.

We can live with purpose when we take part in online groups and global efforts.

And the resulting changes affect the worldwide community.

That’s pretty powerful, isn’t it?

JohnK 6-26-2017
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