“Remember to breathe. It is after all, the secret of life.”
― Gregory Maguire
Hi guys!
Today marks our fourth and final installment of The Coffey Break Guided Meditation Series. This video is all about letting go of the past and tapping into our full potential to uncover our best selves.
Just like we need to clean and nourish our bodies every day, we also need to fill our minds and hearts with positive reinforcements of our best selves daily. There are several hindrances that try to keep us from living life to the fullest potential that God has for us: broken relationships, self-doubt, past pains and hurts, life’s challenges and circumstances, the list goes on…
What I really appreciate about having a time of prayer, meditation, and devotion is the intentional space it creates for daily renewal. Whether that time is first thing in the morning, before bed, or on a lunch break, taking the time to reset and remind ourselves of who we are, that our lives have a purpose, and that we have the potential to do great things is extremely necessary in a world that constantly bombards us with seemingly more bad than good at times.
I really hope you guys have enjoyed this series. It has been such a blessing to me, and before we close out, I’d like to send an extra special thank you to my dear friend Biko Gray for his role in this project. Your voice was such a gift to this series.
See below for the video to this week’s meditation.
Happy Monday! It is time for the third installment of the Guided Meditation series. This week’s focus is on Abundance.
Join Biko as he guides us through a 10-minute set of breathing exercises and affirmations specially designed to assist with training your mind to extend a warm welcome to the abundance of all things beautiful into your life.
A few years ago, I came across a quote that’s stayed with me after all this time. “If you fill your head with good thoughts, there won’t be any room for bad thoughts.”
As obvious as this may sound, it’s the simple truth, and it also requires intentionality. Being positive takes work and discipline and faith.
Philippians 4:8 says:
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
I spent the greater part of last year meditating with a guided meditation on abundance, and case by case, there’s no doubt in my mind that that time I took to zone in and focus on what I wanted an abundance of made a huge difference in terms of how I viewed my circumstances and the world around me.
If nothing else, I want to leave you guys with this thought, the goal should be obtaining the feeling of abundance prior to any manifestation of abundance. Abundance in the way that we are defining it should not be confused with worldly possessions and desires. Simply the overflowing of all that is good. We can find the feeling of abundance in nature, time with family and friends, from the love of God, and helping others. These are the things that really matter. The other things will come, but the blessing lies in true gratitude for what we already have all around us.
Good morning! Today is a big day and not just because it is the first day of our annual fast.
So, here’s the deal, back in September, before my life turned into a real-life vacuum haha, I sat down with my dear friend, Biko Gray, to record a Meditation Series for The Coffey Break. Well, the time has finally come! Three mugs of tea, a few really unhealthy meals, and a bag of Sour Brite crawlers later and we have a 4 part guided meditation series that will roll out every Monday over the next 4 weeks!
A little background. I’ve spent the greater part of the past year and a half rotating four different meditation videos. Each video has had a unique influence on everything from my self-talk to my outlook on money to how I view my future self and the role I play in what that looks like, but I always felt like there was something I wished I could have added. So it finally occurred to me that it’s time to create my own. A tweak here and there, new music, new visuals, new voices, new messages, the whole nine.
My mind is always racing a million and one miles a minute, analyzing creating, dreaming haha the list goes on, and meditation is the one thing that actually allows me to slow down just long enough to find my center and more importantly quiet the distractions.
About two years ago, I think, I heard Biko do a breathing exercise in front of a large group at an event. Little did I know that we would go on to become friends, or that he would be on the board of my nonprofit Mia’s Closet. All I knew was that in that short time of breathing in the good and out the bad, I literally felt the stress melt away.
So, after a year and a half of listening to my bookmarked meditation videos, it was a no-brainer that it was not only the time for me to create something of my own but bring in someone who I greatly respected.
So! Without further ado! Please see below for the very first installment of The Coffey Break Guided Meditation Series. The footage in the videos is from my personal archive of my most favorite beaches around the country and a cameo, courtesy of my baby sister Madison, of the rock beaches in Nice.
I’ll be praying and standing in agreement with each and every one of you guys believing for God to do something incredible in their lives in 2017. Every time I fast, I jot down those specific requests on a sticky note and add it to my circular chalkboard. *If you haven’t read the Circle Maker, get it!) Please don’t hesitate to leave your prayer request below or DM me.
Please don’t hesitate to leave your prayer request below or DM me. It’s such a blessing to finally see this project coming to fruition!
Speaking of things coming to fruition, as tough as it is, I kind of love this time of year. It’s a great way to do a scan of the world around me, hit the reset in all areas and align my intentions for the year ahead. I always feel a closer connection to God when it’s over, and year after year, I’ve looked back and realized how He has simply blown me away with answered prayer after answered prayer.
This week’s Coffey Break Chat touches on a topic that has come up a million and one times over the last 4-5 years, online engagement. The original title for the post was 5 simple ways to show love without coming off like a fan… groupie, etc.
And this is something that I attribute especially to the digital space. There are conversations I have in person or via text that I express differently online, and what I’ve come to realize is that every time I do that, I’m essentially watering down the beauty of a sincere moment by overthinking my response.
One day, I rolled my eyes after spending more time than I’d like to admit overthinking the right response, and I was just over it. I said to myself that from there on out, I’d choose to respond, comment, post and show love as authentically as possible. It’s a good thing haha
I pulled the following quote from Show Your Work and serves as the inspiration behind this post:
“If you want fans, you have to be a fan first. If you want to be accepted by a community, you have to first be a good citizen of that community. If you’re only pointing to your own stuff online, you’re doing it wrong. You have to be a connector. The writer Blake Butler calls this being an open node. If you want to get, you have to give. If you want to be noticed, you have to notice. Shut up and listen once in a while. Be thoughtful. Be considerate. Don’t turn into human spam. Be an open node.”
Encouragement is all about empowering whoever those kind words are intended for. Enough with the cool antics. I’m too old for that. Life can be tough, and the world could use a lot more a lot more cheerleaders.
Nonetheless, there’s a sweet spot for just about everything.
Check out my video blog below on 5 Simple Rules to Showing Love:
Be sincere
Have or get your chit together
Be intentional about keeping an eye out for opportunities that benefit more than just you
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. -Steve Jobs
^Fredis and my’s conversation from yesterday in a nutshell. There’s something so beautiful about the realization that you’ve totally lost track of the, “Oh my gosh! I feel the exact same, way!!” moments.
