Category: Ms. Pillowz

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Affirmations BigDivaHq.com Ms. Pillowz

The Power of Affirmations – Part 2

Good day, my good people! I hope that you have fully enjoyed your summer and are excited for all of the fabulous possibilities this fall. For this post, we’re going to stick with affirmations, except this time we’re talking about how to change your negative affirmations to positive ones. If you haven’t read Part 1, please be sure to check out The Power of Affirmations here.
As mentioned in the last post, you may not be aware, but we all affirm everyday. I’m such a bonehead. I’m stupid. I’m so fat. Nothing ever goes right. I never get what I want. Why is God punishing me? FML! It sucks big time. I don’t think that I need to go on. You definitely don’t feel good after saying them. I don’t even feel good writing them here. Now I need a positive affirmation bath. Okay done. lol
When you say things like this, your subconscious mind takes these things to be true and more things that demonstrate the affirmation are manifested. Have you ever noticed that when you say a negative statement more things go wrong? For example, you say, “I never have enough money. Every time I get paid, something happens and it disappears.” Then like clockwork, the
transmission in your cars goes, your hot water heater stops working, or some other major expense pops up out of nowhere. This is a manifestation of YOUR affirmation. Clearly, affirmations do work, so let’s change them to the positive.
In my last post, I talked about affirming things even when they aren’t true. It may seem difficult, but you can do it. I’ve provided you with some tips to help you fake it til’ you make it.
Relax – One important part of affirmations that never really gets discussed is the feeling behind the statement. How do you feel when you make the affirmation? Many times we do our affirmations while we are stressed, anxious, desperate, or upset. The feeling and affirmations don’t match at all, therefore it won’t be manifested. Whatever you affirm, you have to feel it. Start off by cleaning the slate. Relax. Take deep cleansing breaths, close your eyes, take a hot shower, shake it out, whatever. Do whatever you have to do to release the stress before you start. It will make it easier for you to concentrate and will also help you get a positive result.
Gratitude – we talked about this in the prior post. If it’s hard for you to say the affirmations, start by saying the things for which you are grateful. Life, family that loves you, friends that would go through the fire for you, a job that pays you (especially since so many don’t have jobs right now), your education, a roof over your head, your accolades, your fabulous nail polish collection, plenty of clothes, pearly whites, a symmetric face. Something! I’m sure that you can find something for which you are grateful.
Visualization – this is also very important when doing your affirmations. You will not manifest what you cannot see yourself being, doing, or having. Close your eyes and imagine the person that you want to be. Visualize every detail. How do you look? What do you wear? What is your day like? How do you feel? What kinds of things do you have? Writing down your visualizations is a great way to help you revisit and repeat the affirmations. Be sure to write them in the present tense as if you already have exactly what you want. Glenda provided an excellent example http://mypocketfulofthoughts.blogspot.com/2010/08/visions-of-future-come-before-you.html here and http://mypocketfulofthoughts.blogspot.com/2010/08/glimpse-into-future.html here.
These are just a few simple tips to help you. I hope that they’re helpful. Until next time, my good people!
Ms. Pillowz

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BigDivaHq.com Health Guru Ms. Pillowz Stronger Minded You Wake Up Wednesdays

The Power of Affirmations

Hello again, fellow readers! I hope that you are thoroughly enjoying your summer. 🙂 This month, I was asked to write about mental restructuring. In other words, what can we say to ourselves to reinforce positive progress or goals?
Why is Mental Restructuring Important?
It is important, because if you make the decision to make permanent or long lasting change, it cannot happen without changing your mindset. It is about “getting your mind right” or becoming mentally prepared for the things that you want. Part of that has to do with the things that you say to yourself on a regular basis. A lot of us have a tendency to say things to ourselves that we would think twice about saying to an enemy. James C. Allen wrote a book called, “As A Man Thinketh“, which is all about the importance of our thoughts and how they affect the outcomes of our lives. Mr. Allen once said, “You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.”
Whatever you think… is. If you think that you are fat and lazy and no one could ever love you for you, then you are correct. If you believe that you are fat and lazy, then that will be your excuse as to why you don’t exercise or why you choose not to make a real effort to do the things that you know that you need to do. As far as the love relationships go, you may find someone that loves you, but because you’ve hidden your true nature under a bunch of layers, the ones who loves you can only love the mask, not the real you. So, as I said, whatever you
think… is.
How to Get Your Mind Right
There are plenty of ways to go about getting your mind right: hypnosis, meditation, prayer, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), and more. One of the ways that people do it is through affirmations. Everything that you say to yourself is an affirmation of some sort. You have the power to change things in your life simply by making positive affirmations every day. Things like, ” I never catch a break”, “everything always goes wrong”, “I am so broke”, “I am such a fat loser”, are all examples of things NOT to say, but I’m sure all of you have said one or more of these statements, or worse, to yourself at one point or another. I’m sure statements like these don’t make you feel good. As such, your negative emotions are what is put out there and negativity is what you get in return. Whereas, the reverse is true with positive affirmations. If you think that you are a magnet for great things and wonderful opportunities and truly believe that, then that is what you will speak into existence.
I’ve heard two different points of view regarding affirmations. On one hand, I’ve heard that you should say positive affirmations even when they aren’t true or if you don’t believe it. On the other hand, I’ve heard that if you don’t believe the affirmations, then they won’t work for you. Whether or not this is true I am not sure, but I know it can’t hurt you. As a matter of fact, I think it is important to develop a habit of positive self talk as soon as possible. I believe that it can totally change your life. There’s no time like the present to get started!
So What Do You Say?
Affirmations are so simple. In fact, you are already doing it. We just need to tweak it a little. Here are some tips.
Most affirmations start with “I am”, but they don’t have to. Here are a couple examples. “My body is amazing.” “My health is improving every day.”
All affirmations should be in the present tense. You cannot change the past and the future is something that always occurs later. You only have this moment. The present. Right now. That is why your affirmations should focus on the present.
Affirmations should be positive and should use positive words. “I don’t overeat,” is not a good affirmation, because “don’t” is a negative word. “I only eat when I am hungry,” or “I eat until I am full,” both say the same thing as the first affirmation, but they are positive.
Keep your affirmation straight and to the point. Shorter affirmations are easier to remember and repeat. Shorter affirmations have more of an impact. Wordy affirmations lose their power.
How Do I Do Them?
A lot of people think that they can just say them out loud and that is all, but there is more to it, if you want them to work for you.
Before you begin, I suggest taking a few deep breaths to clear out any mental residue so that you can concentrate. When saying your affirmations, say them with feeling. Say them like you believe what you are saying. If the affirmations aren’t true, then imagine what it would feel like if they were true. Allow yourself to bask in those feelings. Repeat the affirmations. It feels really good to repeat them. Say your affirmations how ever many times feels right to you.
If you find it hard to say your affirmations in the beginning, then I highly suggest starting with things for which you are grateful. Gratitude is an extremely powerful affirmation. I wrote about it on my blog, Big Diva Hq. You can find the post here: http://bigdivahq.com/personal-development/be-grateful/ It may be hard for you to say an affirmation that is not true, but using gratitude really helps. For example, “I am healthy”, may be hard for you to say and feel, so find something about your health or your body for which you can be thankful. You can say, “I am grateful that I am making healthy eating choices”, or “I am grateful for going to the gym last night”, or “I am grateful for making a commitment to living a healthier lifestyle.” “I am grateful for taking the first step towards having a healthier body.” See the difference?
Do your affirmations daily. Consistency is the key here. Affirmations are a great way to start your day. They put you in a great frame of mind. I feel great after I say my affirmations and that feeling is carried with me throughout the day no matter what happens.
When you get into the habit of speaking positivity and love to yourself and you will be greatly rewarded in life. I can personally guarantee that, so give it a try! Best wishes on your journey! 🙂
Ms. Pillowz
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djrelat7 Book Reviews Dust Off Your Books Club Eat Pray Love Elizabeth Gilbert Live Journal Ms. Pillowz

Sometimes its ok to read a book between books…

I send greetings from the HOT and humid Playa del Carmen in Qunita Roo Mexico. I am happy to say that I am still reading Harry Potter for those of you that are following and have joined the Dust Off Your Books Club on Live Journal. I know, why am I happy to still be reading a book for over a month….well last time I talked about it things were getting touch and go for Harry and Hermione. Again I will not give specifics in case someone else has this book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows(*7) on their list of books to read. While the current task at hand for them has not gone towards victory, their immediate situation has gotten better. I have another 200 pages to go, but I anticipate it to go quickly. Then I will be sad to have finished the book. However I do have the movie to look forward to, Part 1 in November of 2010 and Part 2 in July 2011.

SO I put it down to read the books I packed for my vacation…I´m currently reading Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and so far its GOOD. Its a quest that I think at one time or another we´ve all made or wish we had. I´m on her second journey in the book for those of you who have read it….and for those of you who have not I HIGHLY recommend it. The movie for this book is also set to appear this year…i forget when exactly and it will star Julia Roberts(someone correct me if I am wrong).

I have a quote of this book to share with you, well its really all of Chaper 16 or the 16th Prayer Bead….Pg 46 and 47

`They came upon me all silent and menacing like Pinkerton Detectives and they flank me–Depression on my left, Loneliness on my right. They don´t need to show me their badges. I know these guys very well. We´ve been playing a cat-and-mouse game for years now. Though I admit that I am surprised to meet them in this elegant Italian garden at dusk. This is no place they belong.


I say to them,¨`How did they find me here? Who told you i had come to Rome?`


Depression, always the wise guy, says, `What–you`re not happy to see us?“


“Go away,“ I tell him.


…..Then they frisk me. They empty my pockets of any joy I had been carrying there. Depression even confiscates my identiy, but he always does that. Then Lonliness starts interrogating me, which I dread because it always goes on for hours. He´s polite but relentless, and he always trips me up eventually“….

I don´t know, elizabeth has a way of painting a picture that her journey becomes your journey…your heart goes out to her, goes out to yourself and goes out to everyone else who has been in a similar situation. I can´t wait to read the 108th bead.

Keep me posted on how the book you´re reading is going on Live Journal! Search for either myself or Ms Pillowz, or The Dust Off Your Books Club. I always love to pick up a good book and hear that one that is on my list of books to read is good to someone else!

Stay Tuned for the next djrelat7 Book Review Post so you can see how I liked the book as a whole!

Until then
Sending Love From Mexico!
djrelat7
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exercise Health Guru Ms. Pillowz Wake Up Wednesdays

Fasting and Exercise

Hello everyone! I hope that all of you are well. 🙂 I was asked to write about exercise and fasting, more specifically the dos and don’t of exercising while fasting. Based upon my experiences, I’ve put together a short list.

DO your research – Before I even started the first fast, I did a ton of research. One of the questions that I looked for was if it was ok to exercise while fasting. There are a number of blogs out there that discuss this in pretty good detail. The best ones I found were the ones that talked about how they felt while exercising and after exercising. Granted, everyone is different, but reading the stories are truly encouraging and you can get great tips as well.
DON’T exercise at the beginning of your fast. The beginning of the fast is the best time to really observe your body and the changes and signals that you experience. It is important to get to know how you feel at different times of the day. It is vital to be able to recognize your bodies signals for when you are hungry and when you’re having a “healing reaction”, which is a type of ill feeling that happens when your body needs to release toxins that have been stirred up as a result of the fast. It could mean headache, nausea, a stomachache, back pain, or something else. Typically, once you eliminate the waste from your system, the reaction goes away. The point is that the beginning of the fast should be spent becoming acclimated to your bodies reactions and changes. Once you feel comfortable, then…
DO pick a time to exercise. I highly recommend exercising in a relatively consistent manner. Pick whether you want to exercise in the morning, afternoon, or evening. It’s been my experience that I can manage my body’s response to the fast better if I keep things consistent and on schedule. For example, I typically did my salt water flush every day between 9 and 10. That way, my system was completely flushed by 11:30 at the latest. I liked to exercise in the morning. When fasting, my energy was pretty high, and when I exercised I felt energized and exhilarated. When I exercised at night, I found it harder to get to sleep.
DO take it easy when you exercise. You are operating on a limited caloric intake, so it is important to dial back your routine a little bit. Pace yourself, especially when you first start out.
DO drink plenty of water. Water helps to flush toxins and when you are fasting, toxins are being stirred up in the body and they need to be flushed. Water will help that. It will help ease some of your reactions.
Exercising during a fast can feel great, but please be careful and if at any time you feel ill, then stop. Don’t overdo it! Please feel free to ask me any other questions if you have any. Good luck!
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Fasting Health Guru Ms. Pillowz Wake Up Wednesdays

There’s Something about Fasting

Thank you all for your feedback from my first post! Sorry, for the delay in getting out the follow up post. I’ve been travelling a lot for my job. 🙂
I was asked to write about fasting this month. There is so much that I can say on it, that I may even talk about it again in a later post.
Let’s start by defining fasting. According to the Medical Free Dictionary, “Fasting is voluntarily not eating food for varying lengths of time. Fasting is used as a medical therapy for many conditions. It is also a spiritual practice in many religions.” More information can be found here: http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?word=fasting
There are so many types of fasts out there. As mentioned above, there are religious fasts like Ramadan or Lent. There is the water fast, where you only drink water. This is typically not recommended in anything that I’ve read. There are also juice fasts and time related fasts. I’ve even seen fasts to require you to take pills. I don’t really consider these types to be fasts at all.
Why do people fast? People fast for spiritual or religious reasons, weight loss, detoxification, or other medical reasons. When I fasted, I did it to detox and to jump start a healthier eating regimine. You can read all about my fasts on my blog, BigDivaHq.com. All of the related posts are grouped here: http://bigdivahq.com/tag/master-cleanse/
Once, I read a comment on some website where the commenter thought that fasting was a hoax. She believed that the body had its own natural system to release waste and that fasting was totally unnecessary. I do agree that the body has its natural waste release system, but I also believe that with pollution we inhale, heavy unhealthy items that we eat, unnatural chemicals and harmful products that we put on our bodies daily take a toll on our natural waste system.
I also believe that disease is a product of harmful waste that has built up in the body. With such a heavy burden our bodies have: to totally cleanse all the things that we put in it and on it, systems start breaking down or the body doesn’t do as thorough a job as it should.
The good thing is that our bodies are amazing healing vessels. Giving your body a break from certain types of foods or food altogether allows for it to focus on clearing out what is still there. Granted, I am by no means a doctor, however I’ve thoroughly researched the subject before I embarked on my first fast and since then, I’ve done 3 more.
Before I go, one thing that I want you to understand about fasting is that it should not be used as a quick weight loss strategy. Yes, you will lose weight, but once you start eating again, you will gain the weight back. You can, however, use the fast as a spring board to better food choices and a healthier overall routine.
I haven’t done a fast since the winter. I feel like the Master Cleanser no longer suits my needs. In speaking with a friend who is a health and holistic nutrition specialist, I was advised to be careful of the type of fasts that I choose. She told me to do a fast of only fruit and vegetables so that my body can be bathed in nutrients. (How refreshing does that sound? lol) I think that I will give it a try the next time. I’ll be sure to keep you posted. 😉
Feel free to ask any questions or post comments about your own experiences! Thanks for reading!
—
Be blessed and be a blessing today and everyday!
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Fasting Health Guru Ms. Pillowz Wake Up Wednesdays

There’s Something about Fasting

Thank you all for your feedback from my first post! Sorry, for the delay in getting out the follow up post. I’ve been travelling a lot for my job. 🙂
I was asked to write about fasting this month. There is so much that I can say on it, that I may even talk about it again in a later post.
Let’s start by defining fasting. According to the Medical Free Dictionary, “Fasting is voluntarily not eating food for varying lengths of time. Fasting is used as a medical therapy for many conditions. It is also a spiritual practice in many religions.” More information can be found here: http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?word=fasting
There are so many types of fasts out there. As mentioned above, there are religious fasts like Ramadan or Lent. There is the water fast, where you only drink water. This is typically not recommended in anything that I’ve read. There are also juice fasts and time related fasts. I’ve even seen fasts to require you to take pills. I don’t really consider these types to be fasts at all.
Why do people fast? People fast for spiritual or religious reasons, weight loss, detoxification, or other medical reasons. When I fasted, I did it to detox and to jump start a healthier eating regimine. You can read all about my fasts on my blog, BigDivaHq.com. All of the related posts are grouped here: http://bigdivahq.com/tag/master-cleanse/
Once, I read a comment on some website where the commenter thought that fasting was a hoax. She believed that the body had its own natural system to release waste and that fasting was totally unnecessary. I do agree that the body has its natural waste release system, but I also believe that with pollution we inhale, heavy unhealthy items that we eat, unnatural chemicals and harmful products that we put on our bodies daily take a toll on our natural waste system.
I also believe that disease is a product of harmful waste that has built up in the body. With such a heavy burden our bodies have: to totally cleanse all the things that we put in it and on it, systems start breaking down or the body doesn’t do as thorough a job as it should.
The good thing is that our bodies are amazing healing vessels. Giving your body a break from certain types of foods or food altogether allows for it to focus on clearing out what is still there. Granted, I am by no means a doctor, however I’ve thoroughly researched the subject before I embarked on my first fast and since then, I’ve done 3 more.
Before I go, one thing that I want you to understand about fasting is that it should not be used as a quick weight loss strategy. Yes, you will lose weight, but once you start eating again, you will gain the weight back. You can, however, use the fast as a spring board to better food choices and a healthier overall routine.
I haven’t done a fast since the winter. I feel like the Master Cleanser no longer suits my needs. In speaking with a friend who is a health and holistic nutrition specialist, I was advised to be careful of the type of fasts that I choose. She told me to do a fast of only fruit and vegetables so that my body can be bathed in nutrients. (How refreshing does that sound? lol) I think that I will give it a try the next time. I’ll be sure to keep you posted. 😉
Feel free to ask any questions or post comments about your own experiences! Thanks for reading!
—
Be blessed and be a blessing today and everyday!
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BigDivaHq.com einsten lip therapy lip therapy Ms. Pillowz Random Thoughts Wake Up Wednesdays

Are your lips kiss-alicious?

Happy Wednesday to all you beautiful people…I hope your day went as splendid as mine did…I have to admit though it didn’t start off as grand as it ended….

This winter season the cold has done a number on both my skin and my lips.  Particularly my lips.  I have this bad habit of biting my lips and this winter they just HURT. Luckily I went to the Shecky’s Girl’s Night Out Event in December and discovered an amazing product in my Goodie Bag that SMACKED THE HURT AWAY!  Blistex has nothing on einstein lip therapy.  It has Vitamin A+ E, restores moisture and has cooling lip relief that lets you know its working THE MAGIC.  It leaves your lips looking kiss-alicious! It isn’t glossy so its good for the ladies and the gents.  I haven’t seen them in any of the regular drug stores so let me know if you find it other than online.  Last I heard they run about 6 bucks but its lasted me all winter…I was kind of sad this morning because its almost finished and winter seems to want to hold on a little longer.

Remember to always take care of you!  Stay Tuned for next week’s Wake Up Wednesday blog where our Health Guru, Ms. Pillowz, gives us the 411 on fasting!  In the meantime take a moment to read her latest blog Much Ado About Goals at BigDivaHq.com as we’ll be revisiting goals next week!

Until then
djrelat7