Maria Duval - Have you Tried the Latest New York City Sensation?

Have you Tried the Latest New York City Sensation?
In the smog and rat race of our brave new world, have you ever set time aside to reflect and wonder if you could change or at least learn from your past? Do you even think it is possible to learn from your mistakes? Do you even remember your mistakes?

What if I told you there was a way to step back in time and reflect on your past and create a future that insures you don't make the same mistakes again, would you like to try it? It will take as little as 5 minutes and on the other hand you can do it for as long as you like.

Have you tried Walking Backwards, That's right simple by walking backwards you can physically walk your mind back in time. Now of course walking backward is not that easy and ho by the way it's a killer workout, it works your balance, agility and stability, and it targets your Glute and Hamstrings, which are trouble areas and very weak for a lot of people in fact weak Glutes and Hamstrings are in part a contributing factor for back pain.

Have you seen Steven Hefferon the "Backward Walking Man of Central Park"? Those that have, get up pretty early, Steve likes to walk first thing in the morning before heading into his office, most of the time before 6 AM not to beat the heat but to beat the distractions, it freaks people out a little bit when they see me walking backwards and while Steve does not mind explaining what he is doing it does make it hard to keep focused on stepping back in time.

If you would like to learn how to walk your mind back in time, the first thing you need to do is to practice walking backwards. Any path that is paved and has an edge is great for practicing. If you are still hesitant try holding someone's hand and doing it together.

The hard part is training your mind to think backwards, so one technique is to think back on birthdays, holidays or special events than as you get better at thinking back concentrate on details of the events and sooner of latter you will think of the blunder, embarrassing moment and yes even the mistake…

Don't get me wrong this is not just about walking back into mistakes but feel free to walk your self back when you have moment of greatness and genius. Backup your life to a time when you could do no wrong, when you felt the best, the safest and the felt like you could do anything, feel free to walk your self in to a feel good moment and stay there for a while and than use that feeling to create achievement in your life today…

Look you can sit on the couch and watch reruns or Hogan's Heroes, or Get Smart or Gilligan's Island and have the same type of memories but If you want to create change in your life, get you butt off the couch and walk your mind back in time and learn from your mistakes and hold on to the times that made you feel good or even the times of greatness.

Let me add final summation to the experience, as the final step in creating change and to live the changes you want to live, there is a simple formula to any situation you find yourself in and it goes like this…

STOP, you're self from reacting like you would have…

THINK, for a moment what is the best way to handle this situation…

ANTICIPATE, How the outcome is going to be so you become in control of the situation and not always have to put out fires…

You see I heighten my success by learning from both from the highs and lows, understanding what I did, why I did it and what my thought and beliefs were at the time.

I know now, that I need to live my life Expectedly and Pro-actively. I start each day with thoughts of achievement; knowing what I need to get done will get done. The words I choose to use throughout the day are also critical in reinforcing the outcome of my day. And of course my actions fulfill my expectations.

Holly cow why did it take me 40 years to learn that, why did my mother not explain it to me or why did I not learn this in the 20 plus years I was in school. Or did I, and just needed to grow up to appreciate it.

While growing old may suck, it does help you appreciate the good the bad and the ugly in life.

I like to thank Matthew Furey for teaching me these techniques, you see I went from being computer geek to co-founding losethebackpain.com and becoming and Internationally Known Back Pain Expert, it took a while but I did it.

See you in the park…



Article courtesy of Steve Hefferon, CMT of The Healthy Back Institute. You can take advantage of the many available free resources on their website by visiting http://www.losethebackpain.com

Connecting in Life and in Business - Are you Connecting?
The Principle of Connecting: Most of us want to know how to connect better with others in relationships of every kind, including business relationships. We often feel the desire to connect, but sadly realize that our attempts have not truly been successful. However, we can all experience consistently satisfying connections when we understand the hidden dynamics by which they are ruled.

Connecting occurs when one is simultaneously intra-connected and inter-connected. Intra-connection is the connection of one to oneself. Inter-connection is the connection of with others. These must occur at the same time, although the intra-connection is the foundation of inter-connection, and must be cultivated in order for connection to really take place.

Imagine that our attempts to connect with others are like an iceberg. The tip of the iceberg represents what we say. The foundation of the iceberg, the base that holds the tip above the surface of the ocean, is how we feel when we say what we say. The feeling beneath the words provides an emotional current that gets infused within the words as they are spoken. The reason why we feel as we do is the point of origin of the feeling that becomes infused into our attempt to connect.

A great majority of the time, people are not aware of the true reason that gives birth to their feelings. Because we mentally attach a reason to the feeling based on past conditioning and programming, that reason no longer reflects accurately who we are and what we desire in the present moment. Interestingly enough, the tip of the iceberg is approximately 8% of the total formula of connecting. The remaining 92% are the foundation of the iceberg, the part that is underneath the water. Although we may not perceive this 92% with our five senses, we feel it through the multi-sensory dimension of who we are.

A great question to now ask yourself is “What is getting in the way of me being intra-connected?” As you ponder this question, here is a wonderful concept to embrace: You do not have to create connection with others. Such connection already exists. Therefore, your responsibility is simply to remove any emotional or spiritual debris that is getting in its way.

To express it in medical terms, we have become de-myelinated emotionally. Myelin is a substance that surrounds many vital nerve pathways within our bodies. It is like the insulation surrounding an electrical wire, functioning to assure that the electricity is only delivered to the place where we wish to make use of it. What we must do is re-myelinate the emotional pathways that conduct the natural, pre-existing sense of connection between our personal and social selves and our higher Selves.

In essence we just have to let go of whatever may be getting in the way of communicating from the standpoint of who we already are. As we do, we begin to notice that our sense of connection to others becomes easy to feel, and we conduct all our relationships within the shelter of that ease.

About Ellie Drake
Savvy businesswoman, doctor, in-demand motivational speaker,mother and an inspiration to men and women around the globe,
Ellie Drake is a multi-dimensional success. She maintains a demanding schedule of personal appearances as well as a series of
web sites, each offering insights, newsletters and products designed to help individuals achieve their personal best. Each Monday
night at 10;30 pm Eastern, Drake offers a free teleconference designed to empower her listeners.
Visit BraveHeartCommunity.com or EllieDrakeFreeReport.com for more details.

Calm Your Mind And Spirit Through A Spiritual Retreat
A lot of the busy people nowadays are actually really prone to undergoing all sorts of stress related activities from high tailing it from one meeting to another or giving a presentation or a report that took weeks before it could be finished. Such stressful activities can really be jarring on the nerves which is why a lot of people become cranky and would not care less about how they associate with other people anymore.

1. Regain Self

When this happens and that person has already lost contact with his or her spiritual self as well as a good relationship with God, then it is really time to file for a vacation leave for your self and join a spiritual retreat wherein you will be able to calm your nerves and senses so that you will be able to go back and think about the really important things in life. Acknowledging people's importance in your life and how you greatly appreciate their constant presence in your life will really be able to help you have a successful spiritual retreat.

2. Cater To Your Needs

When it comes to joining a spiritual retreat, you must consider the following things when trying to pick out from the various spiritual retreat venues the ones that will really be able to cater to your spiritual needs as well as will be able to foster your spiritual well being. There really are a lot of spiritual retreat venues that are available nowadays for people who would just like to get away from it all and what is great about it is that you need not worry about being bored to your wits in these spiritual retreats since the organizers of these spiritual retreats have already made it possible that you will actually have a good time in their spiritual retreat programs.

- Talking about your feelings
- Your anger
- The world
- Your frustrations
- Your hopes
- Rekindle your relationship with God

3. Aims And Goals

A spiritual retreat aims to answer all these doubts and reassure you that God is certainly with us, always guiding and protecting us from harm. Like if your car has been bumped by another car and it has left a deep dent on the back, you can be rest assured that God is still protecting you since at least you were saved from any bodily harm and that your car is just a material possession that if you really work hard on it, you can actually still have it fixed or you can just buy a better model. A really enables you to become more objective when it comes to dealing with certain situations and to not get easily angry with others as well as with God.

4. Relaxation In Paradise

Still, there are those who go on to spiritual retreats hoping that they will be able to just have the time to reflect on the things that they have done and let go of all regrets - the chances that they did not took as well all the wrong things that they have done. Because as the clichoes, it's all in the past. While a spiritual retreat is really meant for looking back on your past in order to be able to have a better looking future with your newfound faith in God as well as in yourself. It is highly important that you should also be to finally let go of the things that have been bothering you in the past therefore not enabling you to live your life accordingly to God's will.

For more great spiritual retreat related articles and resources check out http://www.weknowgetaways.com

Who Made The First New Year's Resolution?
What is it that makes people stay up until the wee hours of the morning one night out of the year? My primary objective in life is not to see how late I can stay up, but getting up in the morning. If I can get up each morning, it is a major accomplishment that I should celebrate with eggs, bacon and a hot cup of coffee " which is about all the celebrating I can handle. I’m not anxious to see someone drop the ball on New Year’s Eve. I do enough of that myself throughout the year and believe me, nobody cheers. One thing I am most careful to do each New Year’s Day is make out my resolutions for the coming year. New Year’s resolutions represent one of the most ancient of human rituals. I say “human rituals” because it is not known whether the animal or plant world enjoy such exhilarating rituals. The evidence at this point in time is inclusive. Perhaps Mark Twain was correct when he observed, “humans are the only animals that blush " or need to.” I have not always held such high and lofty views of the New Year’s resolution. Once, when I was young and did not know any better, I completely ignored this yearly ritual. My good friend and mentor, the Reverend Frank Simmons, set me straight on this important issue. My early pastorate was close to Frank’s and we spent much time together. I learned so much from him, things they do not teach in college. Each New Year’s Day we would spend in each other’s society. One year Frank and his wife would entertain us at his parsonage and the next year my wife and I would reciprocate. It was at our parsonage one year when I made the casual remark that I did not believe in New Year’s resolutions. As far as I was concerned, a New Year’s resolution was a useless attempt to interfere with scientific laws. My best resolve is not going to change much in the long run. Besides, I can’t run that far these days. My mind is bigger than my legs. For example. Have you ever noticed that a New Year’s resolution is stronger at its birth than any subsequent period? My best intention in January is a long faded memory by July. Most New Year’s resolutions are simply lame attempts to apologize for the past year and a promise of better behavior in the year ahead. People spend so much energy in the creative act of coming up with a good set of New Year’s resolutions that there is no energy left to actually keep them for more than two consecutive days. Frank allowed me to dig my hole as deep as possible and then in his unique way, let me know that I was wrong. I always took criticism from him very seriously. “Can you tell me,” he asked with a mischievous twinkle, “the origin of the New Year’s resolution and who made the first one?” Of course, he caught all of us off guard with this one. My good wife suggested that maybe it was Samson who resolved to give up female barbers. Everyone had a good laugh at that one. Frank especially enjoyed it, slapping his knee and roaring with laughter. My thoughts turned to the biblical book of Ecclesiastes. “When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.” (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 KJV.) In my mind, a vow is the same thing as a resolution. As important as it is to make a vow, or resolution, keeping it is more important. If you cannot, or will not, keep it, better not make it. A resolution is not an opportunity to boast. It should be done very carefully and sincerely. Many people at this time of the year make resolutions such as attending church more regularly, reading their Bible and praying every day, and giving more money to their local church. Such resolutions are music in the ear of every pastor. The problem is, the band stops playing in mid-February. If everyone who made such resolutions actually kept them for an entire year, most pastors would have heart attacks by September. Thankfully, there is no actual medical danger for the cleric population. Back to Frank’s intriguing question. “Can you tell me the origin of the New Year’s resolution and who made the first one?” During our lively discussion of the subject Frank kept quiet. He just leaned back in his chair, listening to the deliberation with a devilish grin playing across his face. Gradually, the rest of us grew silent and directed our attention toward Frank. “All right,” I finally begged, “tell us. Where did the New Year’s Resolution originate and who make the first one?” Frank knew he had us right where he wanted us. “Not many people know,” Frank began, “that the New Year’s resolution has biblical roots. It began with Adam.” He certainly had my attention and I leaned forward to catch every word. With great deliberation Frank explained, “As the first couple began their second year in the Garden of Eden, Adam turned to Eve and said, ‘Honey, this year I’m going to turn over a new leaf.’”

Rev. James L. Snyder is an award winning author and popular columnist living with his wife, Martha, in Ocala, Florida and can be contacted at jamessnyder2@att.net.

Malice In “I Wonder Who I Am” Land
For many years I maintained confidence in my personal identity. I knew exactly who I was and was quite comfortable in my skin. Although, I must confess my skin used to fit me better than it does these days. Recently several things happened to shake this confidence in my person. I don’t know about anyone else, but I take pride in my personal mettle. About two months ago my credit card company informed me somebody hacked into their records and stole my identity, along with approximately one million other customers. They went on to assure me that my account would be safe. It wasn’t my money I was worried about at the time but my identity. How can anybody steal someone else’s identity? More important than that, why would anybody want to steal somebody else’s identity? Especially somebody like me. In thinking about this I wondered, how much can I charge someone for borrowing my identity? I might have a cottage industry here in the making. Or, perhaps it’s just cottage cheese. I could understand if I were a good looking, rich tycoon with more dollars than sense. I’ve been looking for money all my life and have been unsuccessful. I am so poor some church mice have loaned me a dollar or two over the years. And if I ever see those mice again I aim to repay those loans. The way I feel about it is if anyone can get money out of my account, good luck to them, because I can never get money out of my account when I need it. In fact, I have a good mind to find these identity thieves and ask how they’re getting money out of my account. I’d pay good money to find the secret to that puzzle. The ATM at my bank stands for Automatic Thief Machine. It holds me up from getting to my next appointment with cash and never returns my card. A second incident furthered my identity malaise. A few days ago, the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and Yours Truly were in a little bit of a tight spot. Actually, it was I in the tight spot, which is nothing new for me. I can’t remember the events leading up to the spot I found myself but my wife looked at me, placed both hands on her hips and declaimed, “Who do you think you are?” At the time, I did not know quite how to answer that philosophical inquiry. I mean, she has known me for over 35 years ,and for her not to know who I am at this point is just a little bit puzzling to me. At the time, I must confess, I was a little confused about who she thought she was. Being the gentleman I am, I kept my befuddlement to myself. My selfhood perplexity deepened. One day this week, I was going about minding my own business n which is a full-time job with part-time pay and no benefits n when I bumped into an old friend. After we exchanged a few pleasantries, he looked at me and said, “Is there anything wrong? You don’t look yourself today.” Now, the question plaguing my mind was simply, if I don’t look like me, who in the world do I look like? I simply smiled and mumbled something to the effect that recently somebody had stolen my identity. Frankly, I was surprised someone noticed it. In thinking about this, I wondered when someone’s identity is lost where does it go? Is there a lost and found department somewhere for lost identities? Then an awful thought tugged at my mind. What if someone lost their identity, went to the lost and found department and, by mistake, picked up someone else’s lost identity? How do I know it hasn’t happened to me? What proof do I have that I am who I say I am? The evidence before me is quite overwhelming. A major corporation in the United States has informed me that someone has stolen my identity; my wife asked me who do I think I am; and a friend I’ve known for years tells me I don’t look like myself. Talk about having your reality check bounce. I must confess to times when my mind does wander a trifle. But I refuse to accept the judgment that I am absent-minded. I grant you my mind, on the odd occasion, does take a little break every now and then, but it is never absent. This recent identity crisis caused me to do a little evaluating about my personhood. Who am I really? I jotted down a few notes: son, brother, uncle, husband, father and grandfather. Although I’m not old enough to be a grandfather, I do accept the privileges of this position. After all, I’m living with a grandmother, so it is easier just to go along with the program, if you know what I mean. Then a marvelous thought poked its way into my mind. How it got in with all the clutter is beyond me. The thought was simply this; I am also a son of God. This is based upon a wonderful verse of scripture. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12 KJV.) I’m unsure about many things, but one thing I am confident in is my relationship to God.

James L. Snyder is an award winning author and popular columnist living with his wife, Martha, in Ocala, Florida and can be contacted at jamessnyder2@att.net.

Initiation: Taking Your Life To The Next Level
This past Sunday I had the privilege of welcoming back a group of women at the completion of their initiation process. After 10-months of weekly meetings ? discovering their wounds and their gifts, exploring their scary edges and their hidden joys ?these women left Wednesday evening for the culminating weekend of ritual and celebration.

And on Sunday afternoon, their community welcomed them back. As they walked under the archway and into the circle of friends, I could see, shining through the exhaustion from four days and nights of ritual, the new light that each of these women had tapped into. I could feel the way in which each of them had opened to a deeper understanding of who they truly are.

The highlight of the day was hearing their initiated names, chosen by the leaders, with the help of Spirit, as a lifelong reminder of their purpose and gifts. While I cannot share their actual, initiated names I can give you a taste. They were names like:

Drinks from the Well of Worthiness
Flaming Stone
Speaks Compassionate Truth
Healing Phoenix
Bringer of Sacred Irreverence

These are names that, once given, can never be taken away, and will never be forgotten.
You might wonder what initiation has to do with coaching? It has everything to do with coaching in the way that I approach the work.

Initiation is about stepping into a more mature level of commitment to your life and the manner in which you engage with the world around you. Wherever you stand on your path, the initiatory process propels you into a more active and intimate relationship with the life experience you are creating. Formal initiation marks your transition from one life stage or level of awareness to the next.

While coaching cannot replicate or replace a true initiatory experience, it certainly can help a person discover their unique gifts and find meaningful ways of offering them to the world. In our culture, where formal initiatory experiences are hard to come by, that can be a powerful offering.

In our culture we do have events that offer glimpses of an initiatory past, but very few of them retain their previous power. Weddings, potentially a profoundly initiatory experience, have become an excuse to have a great party. The birth of a child has become so sterilized and anesthetized that the majority of new parents miss out on the opportunity to consciously step through the threshold into parenthood. Most religious initiations have become watered down and no longer serve the purpose for which they were created: namely the conscious and intentional maturation of a person.

According to Jewish tradition, I was initiated into adulthood when I was thirteen. I went through the preparations, learned how to read my Torah portion and chant the other stuff. But when it came right down to it, in my middle-class, reform community, the underlying initiatory element of a Bar Mitzvah had been lost long ago. When I completed the process, my bank balance was larger, but I was no more a man than I had been before the ceremony.

And don?t you dare ask me to remember what Torah portion I read, or anything the rabbi said to me, or the words of wisdom my male elders passed on to me. That is all long gone. What I do remember is the party! We cleared out our garage and turned it into a barn to have a big square dance. Where I came up with that theme, I have no idea. It probably was not even my idea.

In contrast to that, my wife and I created our wedding with the intention of acknowledging and exploring the underlying initiatory experience. We chose to consciously step through the threshold of that initiation into our new life-stage. I will always remember the connections I felt as I walked around the circle of friends and family gathered to support and witness us. I will always remember being asked, at the end of the ceremony, if I was ready to step into the world in a new way, in the role of husband. And I will always remember, after having said ?yes,? the surge of power and joy that filled me as my wife and I walked through the gateway into our new experience.

Will the women who participated in this recent initiation remember their experience?

You bet! They?ll carry their initiated name with them for the rest of their lives. They?ll carry the memories of the edges they confronted and crossed over, as well as the edges they confronted and were unable to cross. They?ll remember the dark places they discovered within themselves and the hidden gifts that they found waiting there.

And most important, these women will never again live in quite the same way. They have forged an intimate connection with their gifts. They cannot turn their backs on their gifts anymore than we would turn our backs on our ability to walk or speak or breathe. Can you imagine waking up one day and deciding that you no longer had a use for your ability to walk? Our deeper, soul?s gifts are just as powerful, perhaps more so, and yet, it is far too easy to deny these gifts. The women who went through this initiation no longer have that option. Their experience, their initiated sisters, and their community, will now hold them accountable for offering their gifts to the world in a more expansive way.

Because it is so rare to find an opportunity to participate in a formal initiatory experience, we must become the stewards of our own conscious maturation. We must, on a daily basis, affirm and re- affirm our choice to move into a mature adulthood.

Without formal initiation, our maturation process is evolutionary. It happens each day, in small, incremental moments and movements. By bringing our attention, and intention to the micro-initiations of our daily life, we can achieve the same result as going through a formal initiation. We can step through the threshold to our next level of maturation or awareness.

If you would choose the path of initiation, then begin to pay attention to the opportunities for transformation that happens every day. When something happens in the outer world that propels you to an inner edge, stop and explore it. Don?t be in such a rush to turn around and get away from that edge. When someone says or does something that irritates or even angers you, stop and ask yourself what wound inside you has been activated. When you find yourself resisting an opportunity to offer your gifts to the world, stop and uncover the old beliefs that hold you back.

By committing to your own initiatory process, and using the seemingly insignificant events of your everyday life to catalyze your awakening, you will discover your gifts and the ways in which you are meant to share them with the world.