New you or new fad?

New you or new fad?

My new authentic self‘Every year I make a resolution to change myself. This year, I make a resolution to be my authentic self ‘

Yesterday my husband and I discussed the topic ‘self-help’. I am a self-confessed ‘self-help junkie’ and have been like this ever since I can remember. I was already doing this before it was recognized or even fashionable, so have a bit of experience in this field.

My husband’s point was that there was now too much of it out there. The pressure to constantly thrive for the ‘best version of you’ makes people unhappy and stressed. I actually agree with him.

But there are of course different versions of self-help. As this vast topic of ‘self-help’ has become so fashionable,  a lot of marketers are jumping on the bandwagon selling a lot of bad advice for huge sums of money. In my view, this is not self-help, but marketing some kind of new fad diet, plan, or product with totally unrealistic expectations and no long-term relevance.

Real self-help is being introspective and shining a light on what is not working so well for you. There is no fad, this is just a fact. We all have areas we struggle with and these are very individual. We often hear of people who we perceive as ‘super successful’ only to find out later down the line that they had actually a real rotten time during their ‘streak of public success’.

Can this be described as ‘real success’ – probably not.  I feel that a real sense of accomplishment comes from a place of contentment and moving forward in one’s own authentic and timely manner. It is not a static status quo, but an ever-evolving work of progress. It has to be done in alignment with what you need and what you are currently capable of achieving.  Otherwise, it becomes an unrealistic strain that leads to misery and self-doubt.

If an aspect of your life is not working, doing more of the same is insanity. So how do you change? In order to find a new way, it does make sense to look around to get advice and ideas of what works for others.  This is not a fad.  This is called a short cut and I am all for this.

If you had a burning desire to climb Kilimanjaro during the coming year, it would make sense to talk to someone who did the same journey last year. This person could give you a lot of advice on what gear to bring, which season to choose, and which local support network they would recommend. Doing no research at all and just going there with no preparation would be insane and dangerous.

So why don’t we follow through in this manner with all other areas of our life? 
That is exactly what I intend to do with Living With The Moon. I have been trawling through tons of advice, research, and old charts/tips left by my grandmother and have ordered them into categories relating to your
cleansing routine
Health and beauty – Looking Good – the turquoise symbols
Garden and Interior Design
Gardening and Home – Happy House – the green symbols
romance and love
Relationships and Love – Feeling love – the pink symbols
Ideas and brainstorming
Career, Vocation, and Money – the grey-blue symbols

Finding Balance

Happiness, inner fulfillment – Feeling great – yellow symbols

Look out for them in the LWTM Lifestyle Holistic Lifestyle  Calendar and click on the symbol descriptions for more information

Everybody who has followed this website for a while knows that I am not a big fan of big New Year Resolutions.  It never worked for me. That is why I put together the holistic life goal plannerLWTM Lifegoal Planner with a step-by-step program to gently guide you through the rapids of life. You get a free copy when you join our free LWTM membership. I put this together as a tool to help you and not as a fad to make money.
I hope you find it as useful as I do.

Have a happy and productive  2023

 

Remember: YOU alone are the master of your own destiny. Join our community below for more information.

 An Introduction to LWTM

Here is a link where you can download all our free resources to start building your new holistic life 

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“Knowing how the phases of the moon affect the likelihood of weight gain or loss has proven immeasurably helpful in maintaining a healthy weight and getting my figure back following the birth of my son”

Maureen

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Moon Guides

Moon Guides

Moon guides have existed for thousands of years and below you can find out why they are still so important and how you can use them for your daily benefit. But at first, let’s look a bit at how they came into the world. 

From as early as 30,000 B.C. hunter and gather societies have used the moon cycle to guide them through their life, give them light throughout the night, and scheduled their days. One of the earliest known ‘calendars’ was found in the Dordogne Region of France and consisted of animal bones. You can find out more about the origin of the moon calendar on this blog.

Many civilizations, more notably the Greeks and Romans scheduled their lives according to the path of the moon, and the first moon guides were established. Each generation added extra information and observations to these calendars. Eventually, this knowledge developed into an almanac.

What is an almanac?

Generally speaking, we think about an annual calendar publication that includes the movement of the sun, moon, eclipses,
black moons and blue moons, tide tables, planting dates, and various tips and lifestyle advice.

The first ever documented use of the word almanac was in 1267 by Roger Bacon, a Franciscan friar and medieval English philosopher. He set out to publish a set of tables to detail the path of the moon and other well-known planets and referred to it as an almanac. The actual word almanac comes from the Coptic-Egyptian literature where these tables were called almenickiaka. 

There are also other sources that claim it comes from the Arabic work al-manakh, but the exact origin remains a mystery.

But never mind where the word comes from, almanacs have been in use for thousands of years, giving structure to people’s lives, and highlighting good and bad days for agriculture, fishing, and hunting. Until not so long ago they were the backbone of the agricultural systems all around the world.

The Babylonian Almanac

These keen stargazers connected all sorts of events to the rhythm of the universe and collected this information in their own  Babylonian Luni-solar Calendar.  Still one of the most impressive examples of lunar guides. Their interpretations of certain star patterns,  good and bad dates for certain activities were passed down through the generations.

Some examples of these handwritten moon guides have survived and can be viewed in the British Museum in London. When Guttenberg invented the printing press these guides were among the first commercially printed books and traveled on ships to the New World.

Poor Richard’s Almanack

There the imported European guides were soon superseded by homegrown US versions. The most successful was called Poor Richard’s Almanack which saw a yearly print run of nearly 10,000 copies a year and this publication ran from 1732 to 1758. It was written and published by Richard Saunders and sold exceptionally well.  Apart from the usual calendar tips, it also contained puzzles, household tips, and amusements for the whole family.

Later versions added proverbs with life advice,  stories on how to run the household, and tales of moral behavior. All delivered with a touch of humor, and a dash of cynicism.Not surprising as Richard Saunders was in fact the pen name of no other than Benjamin Franklin, who later became one of the founding fathers of the United States of America.

How can I benefit from an almanac today?

These valuable guides have not lost their benefits. In fact, with so many other news channels, TV, streamers, social media, etc vying for your attention, it is really important to have a constant guide in your life. It turns your focus on what really matters in your life.

Your health, your environment, your relationships, your career/vocation, and your spirituality. And as we saw in a previous article – where focus goes, energy flows. 

Once you have these elements under control and in balance, you are able to take on the world with a positive mindset. And down-to-earth tips and recipes prove especially useful in a time when money is scarce and the future is uncertain.

I am in the process of publishing my very first almanac with useful tips and recipes, partly passed down from my grandmother and partly gained through my extensive research. And I can not wait to share it with you all!

mood guides

 

 

 

 

 

 

Join our community below for more information.

 An Introduction to LWTM

Here is a link where you can download all our free resources to start building your new holistic life 

Where focus goes, energy flows

Where focus goes, energy flows

“The energy of the mind is the essence of life.”  Aristotle 


Biodynamics is a world where the Macro-cosmos and Micro-cosmos align. The Macro-organisms are the stars, the cosmos, and the planets.The micro-cosmos are individual beings (plants, animals, humans). What all connects us is a kind of ‘electrical charge’.

We are all ‘electrical beings’.

The difference between a corpse and a human being is the ‘energy’ that keeps the person alive, keeps the body breathing, and the heart pumping.  In Biodynamics we call this energy ‘life force’ (derived from the Ancient Greek works bio – life and dunamis – energy). This concept of ‘life force’ has existed for thousands of years. In Ancient China it was known as qi. In fact, most civilizations had a similar explanation of how the world and all living entities interconnect with each other. What is clear is that we are all powered by the same ‘electrical charge’ and that this vast energy pool is shared.

The truth is, there is a lot of energy floating around and we all react differently to its influence.

The unconscious mind

Before you dismiss this all as ‘woohoo’, picture yourself in the middle of a dinner party, set in 1770. The scene is candlelit, everybody looks splendid with massive costumes and powdered wigs. At the table, you explain to other guests what a ‘radio’ is – yes there is a box and it has plenty of knobs and buttons. You can press one and listen to music or talk shows, made by people not even in your room, but sitting on the other side of the world. There are many channels and you can choose which one to listen to.

Guess what your audience would have made of you in 1770? Insane, absurd, and else. But here we are in the 21st century – all happily listening to podcasts, radios in our cars, and watching TV. Not so absurd anymore!

Well, the same goes for our ‘inbuild radio sets’. Everybody has one, but most people are absolutely not aware that it exists. Others are aware but have not found the manual yet and can’t switch it on.  There are also a few individuals who are not only aware that a radio exists, but they are also able to switch it on and tune into a specific channel.

This radio set is part of the ‘unconscious mind’. It is the large part of our brain that we don’t have conscious access to, but nevertheless, it exists. It occasionally surfaces in our dreams, inspirations, intuitions and gut feelings. Our brain is like a large computer and clocks millions of impressions every day. Some of these register as important, others are straight away forgotten or filed away. What is deemed important depends on our mindset.

One example would be when you buy a black car of a certain make – and all of a sudden you notice so many other black cars of this make. Were they here before you noticed them? Of course, they were. But only now your brain registers this information as important and shows it to your conscious mind.

Our brain is not a static organ, but a pool of different currents. It is primarily divided into the reptilian (survival brain) and the thinking brain. The survival brain will keep you alive by regulating breathing, and digestion. It also reacts to threats by either running away (flight) or facing the threat (fight). The ‘thinking brain’ is the big canopy above, where you process emotions, and feelings and where you connect to this higher energy via dreams, inspirations and thoughts.

Work with your unconscious mind

And here is the special thing – you can influence your thoughts and future behaviour. In fact, you must train your brain to become better with each day.  We are not the same every day, we are constantly in flux, and what we think/manifest does happen. Our brains are computers and what you feed in comes out. So you better make sure the thoughts (electrical impulses) you feed in are the ones you want to live with.

Knowing how our brain works, this function is super useful for setting and achieving goals.  Ever heard the phrase ‘ Where focus goes, energy flows’. It is your mindset that needs to tell your brain what is important, so it can recognize the information that propels your forward.

First of all, you have to stay clear of too much distraction. To achieve the best results you only want to feed in focused information that is relevant.
If you have a positive outlook, a can-do attitude, and look for like-minded individuals and opportunities guess what you will notice and interact with. On the other side, if you think of what you don’t want – being overweight, poor, unpopular, etc – you just notice more of this! And if all you feed in is irrelevant information, your brain will focus on this and that won’t get you further down the road of achieving your life goals. The brain does not distinguish what is good/healthy or the opposite. Like money, it is indifferent. It can be used for good or bad.

 It is all in your mindset and your thoughts determine what you focus on. And what you can see – you can achieve! What legacy do you want to leave behind?

So next time you fill in your LWTM LifeGoal Planner, get really specific about what you ‘really want’  and then visualize it. Tune ‘your own radio set’ to a channel that is a happy, fruitful place, and gets rid of all negative, destructive thoughts.

In today’s world, this advice is more important than ever! As I keep saying, you can’t change the macro cosmos, but you can change your own microcosmic world! Let’s start with a new mindset today!

Exercise Tip: I promise you if you do this consistently (daily for 90days straight !) you can reprogram your mindset. Find 10 minutes every day. For the first 5 minutes go in front of a mirror and repeat your most important goals and dreams, over and over again. Talk to your image in the mirror as if you were another person. You can set a timer, so you can stay fully focused on the message.

For the next 5 minutes, sit down in a quiet place, and take a few deep breaths. Then visualize one by one what would it look like if you had already achieved what you wished for. How does it feel, where do you live, what do you wear? Once you are crystal clear about what you want and how it looks and feels once you got there, you will notice a shift. It is not sudden, but a slow and constant change. Over time you will notice different people,places and new avenues will open up. You will attract new people into your life. Give it a try and stick with it daily for at least 90 days – daily! And most importantly, keep a diary of your goals and a log of how you implement your dreams by moving forward in small, achievable chunks.  Reading back old goal lists will provide you with a huge sense of fulfillment. Did you know that most people completely overestimate what they can achieve in one year, but completely underestimate what they can achieve long-term? Don’t fall into this trap, pace yourself and grow in a consistent and fulfilling way.

Remember: YOU alone are the master of your own destiny. Join our community below for more information.

 An Introduction to LWTM

Here is a link where you can download all our free resources to start building your new holistic life 

What does a Black Moon mean for you?

What does a Black Moon mean for you?

A New Beginning

New Moon

The Moon cycle starts and ends with a New Moon. It is the time when the moon lies directly between the sun and the earth and no sunlight can be reflected back to earth. All we see is void, no light, and guidance in the nocturnal sky. Traditionally this has been a time for reflection, introversion, and most importantly new beginnings.

Long before electric street lighting, it was difficult to gather or travel during this time and people stayed at home, sitting around the fire, telling stories and planning for the cycle ahead. This time corresponds to the season of winter.

 

“New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.” Lao Tzuae

It is very easy to stay on a  well-trodden path of daily recurring habits. But to stop, think about where to go next, and even change old habits and carve out a new future is very hard. We often procrastinate and only external circumstances force us to change our ways. But this is a rather painful way. Would it not be better to evaluate your life on a regular basis, even when everything is going well? The – Mend your roof whilst the sun is shining – approach

I think this approach sounds more sensible. The LWTM Goal Planner is just the tool to help you with this change. It forces you to think about your life in detail and then implement changes in small baby steps. So you change gradually and holistically.

Generally speaking, the best time to tackle this ‘overhaul of your life’ is at New Moon. Evaluate your current life situation and check at every New Moon how you progress.  Doing this exercise will improve your life immensely.

What is a Black Moon?

This is a rather rare occasion (about every 2.5 years) and refers to the 2nd New Moon in one calendar month. A Black Moon is seen as a real turning point, either globally or in your private life. If it comes up, seize the moment and introduce change into your life. It may be painful at the time, but over time will be very fruitful and rewarding.
In order to let something new in you have to let something old out.

A Black Moon is the counterpart to a Blue Moon and you can read more about this phenomenon here 

What does a Black Moon mean for you?

During this special time, take some time out of your hectic schedule, meditate and really listen to your gut feeling. What do you really like? What provides you with a deep sense of fulfillment and happiness? Write a bucket list and over the next months and years, try to tick these goals off. If you have yet to make a bucket list (your top 20 things to do in your life), then start one now.

Another concept is to create a vision board. On this board, you cut out images that fill you with a sense of joy, excitement, and happiness. Spend at least 1 minute per day to look at this board and visualize all the events you see.  It is a quick exercise, but by visually reinforcing your ‘new life’ the brain will subtly behave as this has already happened.  It is quite remarkable and it definitely works, as our subconscious mind is more powerful than you think.  As they say – seeing is believing!

Download your free LWTM Goal Planner now 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A New Beginning

New Moon

The Moon cycle starts and ends with a New Moon. It is the time when the moon lies directly between the sun and the earth and no sunlight can be reflected back to earth. All we see is void, no light, and guidance in the nocturnal sky. Traditionally this has been a time for reflection, introversion, and most importantly new beginnings.

Long before electric street lighting, it was difficult to gather or travel during this time and people stayed at home, sitting around the fire, telling stories and planning for the cycle ahead. It corresponds to the season of winter.

 

“New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.” Lao Tzuae

It is easy to follow a well-trodden path of your past. But to stop, think about where to go next, and even change old habits and carve out a new future is very hard. We often procrastinate and need to be forced to change by external circumstances. But would it not be easier to prevent this painful way of change by regularly evaluating our lives? 

I think this approach sounds sensible. The LWTM Goal Planner is just the tool. It forces you to think about your life in detail. Generally speaking, the best time to tackle this is atNew Moon. Occasionally evaluate your situation with another New Moon and check your improvements and your progress. Doing this exercise will improve your life immensely. 

What is a Black Moon? 

This is a rather rare occasion (about every 2.5 years) and refers to the 2nd New Moon in one calendar month. A Black Moon is seen as a real turning point, either globally or in your private life. If it comes up, cease the moment and introduce change into your life. It can be painful at the time, but over time will be very fruitful and rewarding. 

A Black Moon is the counterpart to a Blue Moon and you can read more about this phenomenon here 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A goal planner that works for you

A goal planner that works for you

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January is usually the time when we swing into action and come up with plenty of New Year resolutions. But too often this ‘list of good intentions’ is put into a drawer by February and largely forgotten by March. Does this sound familiar?

Yet goal planning is essential! Talk to any successful entrepreneur, business leader, or high achiever and I guarantee that they all follow some sort of life planner or goal list. Why is this so crucial?

Picture yourself driving a car or walking down the road. When you set off on a journey you most likely what to have an idea of where you are going. Otherwise, you drive/walk around aimlessly without ever reaching a destination. And life is not much different.

If YOU are not in charge of where you are going, OTHERS will highjack you to achieve their own goals and objections. This is often done without any kind of malicious intent.  But if you are just ‘bumbling along’, someone has to take control – and usually, it is to your detriment and to the other person’s gain.

This does not mean you can never align your destination with others, quite the opposite. Sharing your journey with like-minded individuals is a good thing – as long as your intentions and interests align with them (at least in most parts and you can reach a successful compromise for the rest).  Then the outcome will be a happy relationship, work partnership, or friendship. But this only works, if you have a clear game plan yourself and set nice, but firm boundaries.

So how does successful goal planning work?

The answer is by breaking down big intentions into small, achievable steps. Then goal setting is fun and easy. The moon cycle with its monthly routine is a perfect time scale for achieving small goals. When you follow the LWTM Goal Planner, it will prompt you how and when to check your goal list, so you won’t ever forget

Trust me you will achieve your goals as long as you 

  • Create and follow your goals with  persistence
  • Break your goals down into thought-through, achievable steps 
  • Build in a ‘safety net’ that catches you when you drift away from what matters
  • Evaluate your goals on a regular basis 
  • Sort your goals into different areas of your life – so you do have an even spread between fun, family, work, and whatever else is dear to you. 

I feel that goal planning is so essential for your life that I have added it as a freebie as part of the LWTM free member package. All you need to do is being open-minded and USE IT!

I wish you success and Happy Goal Planning in the year ahead 

Come and join the LWTM community

 An Introduction to LWTM

 

Here is a link where you can download our LWTM Freebies to start building your new holistic life today!

Finding your core values

Finding your core values

      Sometimes we find ourselves at a crossroad, a place where we need to stop and evaluate if the direction we are headed in is still the right one. Now Covid is supposedly ‘beaten’ and the world is opening up, you may feel quite lost or seek a new beginning. This is quite normal and a chance in disguise to change things for the better. 

So if you do anything this month, go over your core values – are they still what you set them out to be? 

Or if you have never done this exercise, now is a great time to start. 

 When you subscribe to the LTMW newsletter you automatically receive the LWTM Goal Planner as part of our complimentary welcome package.

I have often written about the value I see in goal setting, especially at the time of the New Moon. But today I want to delve a bit deeper into the first section of the goal planning stage. I want to talk about your core values. 

Why do core values matter?

The answer is simple. Your core values should underpin your life. So it is absolutely vital that you take a good look at what your core values are before you start making plans.

Bluntly speaking, there is hardly any point in putting a goal list together if your goals are not aligned with your core values.  Many people work their socks off, only to realize way down the line, that all the hard work and money they earned along the way do not give them happiness and a sense of fulfillment.

 

Money may be exciting in the short term, but when you look at the really rich, most of them don’t just work for money. Instead, their life has a bigger goal or higher aim attached. It could be to leave a legacy, start a charity or create a product that changes the world. Whatever it is, true happiness comes from the hard work being aligned with your core values.

That is the reason why you need to think really hard before you set out on your life journey. If you are not sure right now what your core values are or you may never have thought about this topic then I urge you to clear a few days of your busy schedule and have a really good ‘think’.

It is much better to wait a bit longer and put more emphasis on the ‘figuring it all out ‘ process until you are crystal clear about what you actually want to achieve. Rather than going blindly in one direction and then turning around half-way through the journey or even worse, arriving at your goal and finding out that all that hard work has failed to make you happy and fulfilled.

I recently heard a talk from Dr. Demartini where he identifies 7 core value groups.

  • Physical – the way you look, health, diet
  • Financial – your investments, earnings, pension
  • Spiritual – could be a philosophy, religion, or another belief system
  • Vocational – is your calling, career, or volunteer work
  • Family – your parents, siblings and children, and other family members including pets
  • Mental – the area of self-development, courses, schooling
  • Social – your friends, acquaintances, and social media

When putting a goal list together, you should try to think about all these values and include at least one of each category.

Values change over time

Teenagers and people in their early twenties usually value their social engagement with others. What your peer group or people on social media say ranks much higher than what their parents tell them. Vocation will also feature highly, think of job training, university, starting a career.

In early adulthood (20ies and30ies),  the physical side is very prominent. In this age group looking good, keeping slim, and attracting a partner particularly matters.

At the end of the 20ies and throughout the 30ies many people start a family and this will become the priority.

When the children get older or leave home, mental values and self-development become more important. This is especially true for women who often sacrificed a career for bringing up their children. Now is the time when they think about another life phase that enables them to re-enter the labor market, starting a business or gear up for a career change.

People in their 50ies and 60ies are finding financial values attractive. Retirement is coming closer and saving for a pension and financial security after the working years will play on their mind. How would they cope if they suddenly got ill or lost their job?

Finally, as people grow old the philosophical/spiritual side becomes more prominent and there is often a strong bond with the family, especially if there are grandchildren.

This, of course, is all a very generalized view. I am not saying that only one area dominates a certain time in your life,  but it illustrates that core values change over time and that needs to be reflected in your life goal planner. That is why you should every year have a look that your core values are still aligned with what you set out a few years ago and if not change and adapt it.

So don’t hesitate and download the LWTM Goal Planner and have a look at where your journey takes you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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