Micki Beach, E-RYT, YWT, SUPY, Author at 10 Little Rules

the truth about Needs

That soundtrack is in my head …

“I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy.”

I don’t think twice about doing for others, helping others, building up others. But somehow when I need to fill my cup up, I feel like I’m a burden … other people have their own lives, right? They don’t need to have to deal with all my mess. It’s not their job to make me feel better.

Today the love of my life moved the last of his belongings from my home because his “lifestyle” was more important than our marriage. So here I am once again sitting (COVID strangled, actually) with the utter feeling of hollowness. It would be easy to crawl back into my pjs and into my bed to numb my mind with senseless TV shows but I knew …

We hear our self talk reiterating all the woes and worries but sometimes we have to put a muzzle on that long enough to listen to our truth. I knew my bed was not going to nourish my soul. I knew what I needed! Now just to muster up the courage and strength. I put on my game face and tightened my pony tail!

Rule #6 in my book 10 Little Rules for Finding Your Truth kept speaking to me … Replenish!!

So I grabbed my keys and my favorite bubble mate and we visited a new produce stand, my daughter and I having a sing-along in the car. I filled my kitchen with fresh fruits and veggies. Then I leisurely washed my car. Then I put my hands in the dirt. I dug up discarded plants from a neighbor (ones I couldn’t normally afford) and I reverently placed them in my bare yard, filling my life with color. Kitchen? Check! Backyard? Check!

I planted some of these flowers for my new neighbors so they can enjoy the beauty! They trade with me dinners I would never take the time to cook. I pass along more of these plants to other appreciative friends who in turn shower me with baked goodies. Belly? Check!

My life is so full even on the most heartbreaking of days because I know what I need to refill my cup and I now understand …

I AM WORTHY!

I give

and fill others up

and it is absolutely ok to allow others to replenish me.

Somehow it’s not a burden to others. And its weird how they always do exactly when I need it most. In turn, they fill their cups by helping me, just as I do others. It’s a never-ending cycle of give and take and love and support.

Whether it is in human, plant, animal or food form.

Find what makes your soul happy and do more of that!!

Your favorite pjs and binge watching is for PERFECT days …

NOT the stormy ones.

Posted: May 8, 2020
By: Micki Beach, E-RYT, YWT, SUPY

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The truth about replenishing … a book reading

What fills your cup? What makes you happy … especially now, when “normal” is nowhere in sight?

Micki Beach, author of 10 Little Rules for Finding Your Truth, reminds us that it’s more important than ever to take care of our joy, and refill our own cups. Without that, we are no good to ourselves or anyone else. Enjoy this reading from her book … (and sign up for our newsletter for upcoming book readings from Micki and our other authors)!

For more inspiration on finding your truth, please visit Micki’s book page to purchase your copy. We love our authors, and our readers.

Posted: May 4, 2020
By: Micki Beach, E-RYT, YWT, SUPY

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a teaser about Truth

These days it can be hard to tell the “truth” from the noise, both in our own heads and in the voices all around us.

Micki Beach, author of 10 Little Rules for Finding Your Truth, wants to help. She’ll be giving a book reading soon; watch her teaser below and sign up for our newsletter so you don’t miss the full recording!

Posted: May 3, 2020
By: Micki Beach, E-RYT, YWT, SUPY

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the truth about Honesty

Social media gives every single person their own little soap box. Unfortunately it seems the people who shed light and love into the world are shoved into the background by all the desperate, angry and loud people who just seem to want to attack. Their claims, always backed by what they say is “honesty,” are often distressing and confrontational.

One of my favorite quotes is “Never assume that loud is strong and quiet is weak.” We often think that those who have the “courage” to step up and “tell it like it is” are right, true and transparent. But these people rarely have anyone’s interests in mind but their own. People during crisis move from a place of fear, anger, guilt and regret and as they stand proudly upon their soapbox, it is often just to shield others from seeing their own truth. Insecurities are the loudest and it takes a true test of courage, confidence and silence to be calm and quiet in this type of storm.

My tenacity to remain centered is tested often because I am in the public eye. There will always be those who find fault in you, your product, your views. They will bait and antagonize. They will lure you out of your peaceful place of security in hopes of proving to others that their own views of you are correct. Sometimes people are running away from their own truths so steadfastly that the only way they can’t feel it nipping at their heels is by attacking something or someone else.

Everyone has a right to practice Rule #10 in 10 Little Rules for Finding Your Truth, “Speak Your Truth.”

Yes, everyone!

But everyone else has the right to walk away and not listen.

The first two weeks of our global COVID-19 crisis, there was so much anger and hatred being sent out into the world. Facebook posts were spewing misinformation and accusing anyone and everyone. People were making fun of others and bitterly chastising those who weren’t handling the crisis exactly how THEY thought it should be handled.

We all move through times of struggle differently. We all replenish in different ways. Take a moment and think about where you are getting your information. Who are you listening to? Does their truth align with yours or are they just speaking it so loud that you can’t hear your own truth anymore?

I am so absolutely proud of my Facebook community through this pandemic. I slowly started seeing less and less of my friends on my Facebook feed. Less posts, less anger, less attacking. People were literally unplugging. Those people on the soapboxes no longer had an audience … and guess what? They stopped … or at least, many of them have.

We started to see how this very helpful and useful tool, so useful initially for keeping us connected while in isolation, was actually damaging our peace of minds.

Everyone was speaking their own variation of their own truths.

Or so they thought!

But sadly the real work that allows us to find that inner voice had not been done. You know those people …

They were jumping on those soapboxes from a place of fear and negativity.

And MANY chose to walk away.

I respect everyone’s truth, as we all should. That doesn’t mean I have to agree with, buy into it or support it … or even listen to it.

I know I can walk away when it does not align with my path.

You can too!

Posted: May 1, 2020
By: Micki Beach, E-RYT, YWT, SUPY

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the truth about Choices

We all have our stories … the sad details of some life-changing event that we may feel no one would understand so we keep them buried deep within our heart. But these emotions take a toll on our minds and, eventually, our bodies. Suppressed emotions block energy lines in the body. If we could take an energy microscope, so to speak, and take a little peak inside … we may see a road map to our emotional histories.

We stuff and compress these emotions into little pockets of the mind and heart, thinking one day we will deal with them. One day will be better than today. This compartmentalizing leads us to a life of survival. A life of just simple existence where we tend to be reactive instead of proactive in daily encounters. We may choose the path of least resistance or blame our circumstances on others and make excuses when things go wrong in our lives.

We tend to listen only to answer, not to actually hear what is being said …

and we rarely speak our truth …

Do you fear change or have you recently been feeling that there is something bigger that you were meant to do? This is the path to “thriving.” This need to grow, prosper, flourish and develop. But how do we make that leap. But what if we fall …or worse … fail?

There are several steps you can take to begin living your unbounded life.

1. Get to know yourself. When you know your own strengths and even your weaknesses, you can clearly define what you love doing everyday! Make a list … at the top write “I Am Unique.” On your list, write what replenishes you. Do you feel more revitalization after spending time alone, or does being in a social crowd help you recharge? When you feel best, who is around you? What are you doing?

2. Think about your daily tasks. Make another list … two columns this time. On one side write all your daily tasks. On the other, write all the things you love to do. How do these two lists compare? Can you eliminate at least a few of the daily “tasks” that may drain your energy and replace them with something you love? Can that load of laundry wait until tomorrow so you can cozy up with a book and a cup of tea for 30 minutes? Seeing our day and our emotional needs on our list in front of us helps us rearrange our priorities.

3. Who do you surround yourself with? Is all your free time spent surfing the web or reading political rants on face book? Make a list of all the people in your life who are living their dharma. Who do you know who is thriving and sharing their gifts with the world? These are the people we want to spend more time with. They have big plans, exude excitement, motivate and inspire others. They will help you keep moving towards the things you want. Not material things or money, but your true purpose.

4. Thriving vs Surviving. Thriving takes balance … not literally, necessarily, some of us have two left feet! But think about how your diet, sleep habits, and time for “play” directly affect your life. At our studio we never encourage the idea that everything we are isn’t perfect already but sometimes you may feel you need to change your diet or make the resolution to “give up” something unhealthy in your life. I recommend starting to incorporate healthier things and habits into your life … people, mediation, Pranayama, yoga classes, and believe it or not …

all the unhealthy things will start to fall away …

Sometimes even unnoticed …

and before you know it you are no longer just trying to survive …

you are thriving!

Micki Beach, E-RYT, YWT, SUPY @ 10littlerules.com

Inspired by chopra.com

Posted: March 15, 2020
By: Micki Beach, E-RYT, YWT, SUPY

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the truth about Meditation

All good yogis do it, right?

And if we don’t, we keep it hidden like some dirty little secret that we sweep into the closet when our friends arrive for a visit.

I did yoga for seven years before I once even attempted to sit still to meditate. All that “ohming” in classes I attended never once spoke to me or even WHISPERED some deeper meaning … I never “heard” any ANSWERS but only realized I had a long way to go before I could resist the urge to scratch my nose and sit in peaceful bliss like all the other good yogis.

What no one ever bothered to tell was that there are many ways to meditate. Meditation is not about emptying the mind. It is about being able to focus on ONE object…

solely.

That may be a little hard at first. We are so used to multitasking that it is hard to put the brakes on that warp speed we seem to always move at. So in our yoga classes, we work to give that “monkey mind” ONE object to focus on. Think of it kind of like an anchor, tethering you to the present moment.

When we begin to meditate, we start with the breath as that anchor.

So try this….

Remember in 10 Little Rules for Finding Your Truth …

our first Rule is Be Still. Take a moment and revisit your book. Find your mountain pose (you can even do it sitting) and just feel how the breath moves in the body. Encourage the breath to first fill the belly then draw the breath up into the rib cage. From there, draw the breath into the chest. Imagine the torso expanding like a three-dimensional box….

From side to side, front to back and top to bottom.

Once you can follow the breath up … try to release that breath first from the chest, then slowly from the ribs and finally the belly. It’s that easy. This is called Dirga Breath or 3 Part Breathing.

So just in the last few minutes you have practiced this breath you have begun a simple meditation practice. Try taking 10 rounds of breath this way periodically through your day. Recite in your mind as you breathe … belly, ribs, chest … as you inhale. Then as you exhale, in your mind repeat … chest, ribs and belly.

When you release the assumption that in order to be a true meditating yogi you need to sit like a pretzel and not move for an infinite amount of time …

the rest will slowly evolve.

More techniques to come!

Micki

Posted: March 3, 2020
By: Micki Beach, E-RYT, YWT, SUPY

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the truth about Believing

We are all skeptics … we are even cynical at times, that outwardly displays itself as sarcasm or criticism.

“Not me”, right?

Think about the last time someone gave you a compliment … what was your reaction?

We are the first to so readily offer a compliment, a hand and praise to others. We KNOW how important it is to support others. With our modern day technology, it seems everyone and their lives are sitting on the couch right beside us and we know their history … their “story”… as if it was our own.

We “bless their hearts” (at least if you are a good southern woman) and send empathetic love to them through “likes” and even reach out to let them know we care.

We are aware of how much love we SHOULD give others because their pain is much more visible to us now. We all feel freer to share … we know this is part of the healing process.

This is where we step in and help those we feel are in need, with a basket full of muffins or a plant from our garden. We are the first to sing their praises as if they have forgotten the tune, pat them on the back, pick them up and dust them off and put them upright again.

YET…

When someone, anyone, shows us that same kindness …

we scoff or laugh it off. We feel we have “wasted” their time. “Oh, you shouldn’t have bothered.”

We even volley back to them any compliments they shower us with as refutes, disagreements, or even a “yeah, but.”

Why is it so hard to believe that others see the same light in US that we see in them? Why can’t we allow others to lift us up when we are in need without feeling burdensome? Why can’t we believe that their truth is that WE are important too?

Think on that a bit….

Posted: February 12, 2020
By: Micki Beach, E-RYT, YWT, SUPY

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the truth about Chaos

I have it ALL under control! We all say it but how many of us ever truly feel it is so? Our logical mind flips its cape and proudly puffs out its chest but the heart mind taps on our shoulder and says “hey sister…didn’t you forget about x, y AND z?”

A hurricane many years ago pelted water sideways into my eaves until the whole right side of my house looked as if it was crying. Literally the walls were streaming with water and I looked liked one of those cartoon characters running around without enough fingers to plug all the holes. Little did I know that my stellar performance in THIS emergency (which may I add I am usually on point in these situations) would look like an amateur when the real cape doning was to come….

The whole kitchen and dining room wall would need to be torn out … all the way down to the studs. The bamboo flooring and kitchen tile also had to be torn out. Did I mention I was a homeschooling mother who valued our little piece of tranquil property out in the county more than anything in the world?

…so in rushed the water mitigation team and insurance adjusters, roofers (yep we needed a whole new roof too) as well as contractors and anyone else who wanted a piece of our insurance claim money. They set up seven industrial fans to dry out the water but never sealed off the open floor planned house. My daughter and I had to scream to hear each other, never mind getting anything productive done. And this lasted for weeks. Much to my argument, dissatisfaction and utter breakdown. This is what is was … no fighting or screaming or explaining was going to end this chaos of my life any time soon.

Sometimes in the midst of the noise and fans and wind and complete disorder … we must shed our cape. There is no one to save but ourselves in that moment.
Our hearts.

Our sanity.

So we have to just sit our ass down on the torn up tile floor amidst the wind and noise and breathe.
that’s it…

no fighting or fussing or controlling these situations.
just be still…

and listen…
to our hearts. That is the one place chaos will never reside. We must learn to silence the logical mind to hear our heart mind.

THAT

is where peace resides.
#FindYourTruth

Posted: January 30, 2020
By: Micki Beach, E-RYT, YWT, SUPY

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Author: Micki Beach, E-RYT, YWT, SUPY

What fills your cup? What makes you happy … especially now, when “normal” is nowhere in sight?