by Connie Habash | May 30, 2019 | Mindfulness, Spirituality
The NBA finals are here, and they’re providing some fuel for my spiritual awakening – from the Golden State Warriors! Yes, I’m a fan and that’s a photo of me and my family at a game with the famous Kevin Durant – well, you know, the cardboard version. *wink*
[excerpted from my recent article on Elephant Journal]
Sure, I live in the SF Bay Area, so it’s easy to love our home-town champions (and even when they weren’t champs). But ever since Steve Kerr took over and the Splash Brothers have wowed us with 3-pt performances that have revolutionized the game, I’ve found more to love about this iconic team than their championship reputation. Even if you hate the Warriors, or couldn’t give a fig about basketball, there’s a lot to benefit our own personal and spiritual evolution from how this team works and plays.
by Connie Habash | Apr 22, 2019 | Attention, Connection, Consciousness, Energy, Intention, Support
It’s my morning ritual to sit in the front yard and take in whatever nature has to offer me. I receive messages from Spirit in profound ways from simple things. Simple things like thin, invisible threads.
The other day, something in the air caught my eye. It hovered between the tall pine in the very front of the garden and my neighbor’s apple tree over the fence to the right. I walked over to take a look, and there in the air were a small handful of what looked like dead grass cuttings. Of course – they were caught in a spider’s web!
But how in the world did the spider do this? It stretched about 9 feet between the two trees. And still, those blades of grass were suspended by a few delicate strands. Invisible threads, yet so strong and supportive.
This spider’s web reminded me that we are all held and surrounded by invisible threads. There are three kinds of these imperceptible supports in our life.
by Connie Habash | Apr 9, 2019 | Anxiety, Compassion, Law of Attraction, Reality, Worry
In my forthcoming book, Awakening from Anxiety, I have a section on the 6 mistakes spiritual people make that increase their anxiety – and what to do about it. Here’s an article on one of the most common ones.
Many of us have heard of the Law of Attraction. It’s a spiritual concept that has become popular since the movie, “The Secret,” in the early 2000’s, but isn’t new. It’s actually ancient wisdom that we have rediscovered in a powerful way.
The Law of Attraction is based on physics – that like attracts like. Translated into our psycho-spiritual usage, we tend to attract in life what matches our thoughts. This is where the idea of “you create your reality” comes from. According to Law of Attraction, if you picture it, think it, believe it, it tends to manifest in your life.
Oh No! All Those Scary Thoughts!
I work with a lot of clients and students who struggle with stress, worry, and anxiety. The Law of Attraction, when misunderstood, tends to send them through the roof. They become even more anxious. I call this the Law of Anxiety.
by Connie Habash | Mar 30, 2019 | Oneness, Wholeness
I just saw a post on Facebook that said, “To keep winning, I have to keep improving.” It really bothered me to read that. I felt sad, like someone was drowning and trying to keep their head above water.
I just have 4 issues with this statement:
- Keep
- Winning
- Have To
- Improving
(yeah, just about the whole thing!)
Impermanence
First of all, everything is impermanent. Life is all about changes. We cannot keep things static, and the attachment to keeping things the same, or keeping up a particular level of “success” sets up disappointment. We need to be able to flow with the cycles of life, and to appreciate what is rather than be attached to expectation.
by Connie Habash | Feb 28, 2019 | anger, Anxiety, Challenges, Depression, Empowerment, Grief, Release, relief
Let’s face it – we all go through difficult times. Everyone experiences some pain, whether physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional, at some point in their life. During those challenging times, our tendency is to grasp for relief. Just like when we get a headache or...
by Connie Habash | Feb 4, 2019 | Anxiety, Overwhelm, Presence, Stress
Everyone has been talking about bucket lists for years, but I find they just create more anxiety. Here’s what I do instead.
It’s all over social media. Just checked one off my bucket list, as they post an amazing selfie from the Himalayas or while scuba diving with sharks. People have jumped on the bandwagon of this trend to create a list of all the things they have ever wanted to do before they “kick the bucket.”
I like lists, too. I have my to-do list, my goal list, my list of classes that I would like to take someday, etc. But the idea of a bucket list bothers me.
It’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself; to have these 10, 50, 200 things that you want to do before you die. When I was in my 20’s, that was a cool idea. I hadn’t done that much and hadn’t seen that many places. So it made sense to me back then (although the term hadn’t come into use at that time).
Having that bucket list feels anxiety-provoking. What happens if you get older, and things still aren’t checked off? A competition begins with others who are ticking off their items – will you feel that you’re behind? What if your fear about trying some of those things holds you back? What if you spend so much time planning for fulfilling X amount of bucket list items per year that you aren’t really appreciating what you have? The idea of a bucket list should be fun and exciting, not stressful and overwhelming.
by Connie Habash | Jan 2, 2019 | Alignment, Being, Divine, Presence, Self-Care
It’s the beginning of the year, and I have been looking at the fact that, in my mad scramble to get my book finished, I have not been so good at self-care the last couple of months. Meditation has been sporadic, yoga practice minimal, trips to the gym only 1-2 times per week, rather than my ideal 3-4. Only been on one hike. Getting to bed too late.
I’ve been pretty disappointed in myself, but also embraced and accepted that part of my deadlines to meet involved putting a lot of condensed time into editing and preparing for the book launch.
Still, it’s been gnawing at me, and I knew that it was an excuse. My soul longs to be back on track. Ever since I was sick over Thanksgiving, it’s been hard to get back up on the horse, build up my conditioning again, and return to the habits that keep me feeling healthy, whole, and energized. I need to get self-care back into my regimen.
Then, I read Angela Lauria’s blog (she’s The Author Incubator – the program that pulled this book out of me!) She’s dropping self-care. What? I knew there was more to the story, so I read on.
by Connie Habash | Dec 4, 2018 | Acknowledgement, Appreciation, Attention, Holidays, Kindness, Uncategorized
/uploads/2018/12/caring-children-kindness-awakeningself-spirituality-300×200.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”200″ />It’s the holiday season once again (feels like I just packed up last year’s Christmas tree, and now we are getting the ornaments out again!). While the season calls for celebration, merriment, and goodwill towards all, we’ve been seeing a lot of suffering and conflict in our world.
We might easily feel less than optimistic about the nation and our relations with others, whether other countries or those we pass on the street. But I have been seeing beautiful reflections of kindness and love all around me, and find that the willingness and ability to see human benevolence bolsters not only my world view, but my perception of myself.
by Connie Habash | Nov 1, 2018 | Anxiety, Perfectionism
excerpt from my forthcoming book on overcoming anxiety!
We’ve all done it. With the best of intentions, we set out on the spiritual path, ready to have our awakening, and determined to find the calm, centered, peaceful place within that is beyond our anxiety.
Often, we do find that place – for a while. But it’s the natural cycle of things to come and go. When we find that calm, courageous place we delightfully discovered beginning to slip away, we might make some spiritual mistakes.
They can be errors in our approach, perspective, or how we’re applying our beliefs. These spiritual mis-takes – for they’re just a slip-up, a miss of the target we’re aiming for – aren’t a big deal. We all get a little off track sometimes.
The problem is that we tend to make them a big deal. They can become deal-breakers, sending us down the spiral not only of more anxiety, but self-recrimination and anxiety about our anxiety.
by Connie Habash | Oct 7, 2018 | Anxiety, Nonattachment, Practice, Stress
Relief! Ever have that feeling after a big project or deadline is done? Yes, I had that last night, after my daughter’s birthday party was over.
BUT…I also noticed that the feeling of “relief” is very short lived. There is always something else ahead, another project, deadline, thing I “have to” do. And the cycle continues… stress before, relief after.
It is possible to step out of that cycle. One way to do it is from yoga philosophy – the two foundational principles of yoga, Abhyasa and Vairagya
