Appreciation

5/27/15 Workout of the Day

Appreciation, Health & Wellness, Hope, Joy, Love, Self-Realization

5 Rounds:

  • 20 Sumo-Deadlift High Pulls (30-50 lbs)
  • 15 V-Ups or U-Ups
  • 10 Push Presses (15-30 lb Dumbbells)

  
Mental Workout of the Day:

Go outside and sit for 5-10 minutes. Do your best to be as present as possible. Look at the trees, and really study the colors and shapes of the trees. Look at the clouds, look at how beautiful they are and how high they are in the sky. Feel the breeze brushing your skin and the warmth of the sun dancing on your face. Listen to the song the animals, whatever they may be, sing to you. Just sit and enjoy the present moment and allow your thoughts to elevate to a more calm and peaceful state.

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5/25/15 Workout of the Day

Appreciation, Health & Wellness, Hope, Joy, Love, Self-Realization

1 Round:

  • 100 Push-ups
  • 200 Sit-ups
  • 300 Squats

  

Mental Workout of the Day:

Set a timer for 10 minutes. Close your eyes and play the “Wouldn’t It Be Nice If…” game. Say to yourself “Wouldn’t it be nice if…” and finish the sentence with the desire you see yourself having achieved. Make this fun and see yourself living the desire as you play the game. This should make you smile and relieve any resistance you have built up against your manifestation.

5/23/15 Workout of the Day

Appreciation, Health & Wellness, Hope, Joy, Love, Self-Realization

Every Minute on the Minute for 10 minutes:

  • 10-15 Squats
  • 3-5 Burpees

Have a running clock. Once you complete both the squats and burpees rest the remainder of the minute. If you don’t finish the allotted number of reps in the minute, you will do 20 sit-ups for each missed round.

  

Mental Workout of the Day:

Write down 20 accomplishments in your life. Read them 5 times over and each time say, “I did my best to achieve this.”

5/22/15 Workout of the Day

Appreciation, Health & Wellness, Joy, Love, Self-Realization

As Many Reps As Possible in 7 minutes:

  • Burpees

Followed by:

  • 150 Sit-Ups

  

Mental Workout of the Day:

Set a timer for 7-12 minutes. Sit in a comfortable position. Close your eyes and take your awareness to your breath. Focus on the movement of your breath. As you inhale, feel the breath move into your lungs energizing you. As you exhale, feel the breath moving outward and releasing all the stress you are holding on to. Feel yourself sink deeper into the couch or chair or floor every time you exhale, relaxing every muscle of your body. Continue this until the timer ends.

I’m not special!

Appreciation, Hope, Joy, Love

I was told the other day that I was special. I had shared my beliefs, and adversities that I’ve experienced in my life, with a woman and she told me I was special. I thought for just one second and replied with a smile, “I’m not special, I’m stubborn.”

There is nothing special about me. At my core I am no different from that woman, nor am I any different from any of you reading this. We are all made in the image and likeness of One creator, One substance, that pervades each one of us.

All I have done in my life is to be as stubborn as possible and refuse to accept the opinions of others that do not resonate with my heart. That doesn’t mean I haven’t listened to the opinion of others, it means that I have not allowed their opinions to affect the knowing I felt in my heart.

I am asked quite frequently, “How are you so happy?” And the answer is quite simple, I have refused to let the words and actions of others affect the happiness I wanted to feel. I am happy because I consciously find things to be happy about. I am happy because I have practiced listening to my gut. I am happy because I choose to be happy and not let anyone affect that.

I am not special. The Life Force that pervades every atom of my being is the same exact Life Force that pervades every atom of your being! We are One! I am you, you are me! I am not monetarily rich, I do not have the best body, I am not in a romantic relationship, and yet I feel happy simply because I choose to be.

I am not special, I am no different from you. I hear it all the time, “Zach, why are you always smiling? Every time I see you you are always happy and smiling.” Well, you guessed it…I choose to smile. It is not something that is pressed upon me because I am in Divine favor. I am smiling because I have so much to be grateful for! I am smiling because I know that you are just as wonderful and beautiful and Divine as I am. I am smiling because although experiences in this life seem tough, we always get past them and are better off for having experienced them.

I am not special. “Zach, why are you so positive all the time?” Why aren’t you positive all the time? I understand that there is suffering occurring in this world, poverty, hunger, so many atrocities. However, when I see that I do not dwell on where my brothers and sisters are suffering, I see them thriving. I ask myself what can I do to better their situation? Should I pity these people or should I acknowledge the abundance and ecstasy I wish my brothers and sisters to experience and let that inspire me to make a change? Out of the depths of darkness these people, our brothers and sisters, experience they grow strong! Their strength is unlike that of many of us who have never experienced such atrocities. So why shouldn’t I be positive? The suffering people go through strengthens them emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, and from that perspective I will find what I can do to help them.

So, as you can see, I am not special. I have experienced a similar amount of suffering as you. I have dealt with death, dis-ease, heart-break, physical ailments, emotional turbulence, mentally instability, just as we all have. All I have done was been stubborn towards the opinions of others if it insulted my soul. We are free! Truly unlimited beings, able to consciously imagine and bring forth anything we choose, and yet we fall short. We fall short because we allow others to insult our soul, our heart’s beliefs.

Do you want to be happy? Do you want to smile? Do you want to be positive? Then stop allowing the opinions of others to continually insult your soul. You do not need anyone to approve of your dreams or heart’s desires…you simply need the strength and faith to say, “I will because my heart says so.” And then all those outside voices will quiet while you begin to live your dreams.

But you know what, I am special…and you are special…and you are special…and you…and you and yes! Even you!!! We are the children of Divinity. Each one of us connected and yet perfectly individual and unique!!! We are special!!! So let’s begin to walk like it!! Let’s begin to act like we’re special!! Let’s begin to talk like we’re special!!! Let’s begin to treat each other with the kindness and Love that we are all special!! When we are all able to recognize how special and perfect we truly are is a day that is soon upon us!! So let us get started now and let every one else know how truly special they are as well!!! I love you all so very dearly and am so excited to see our unfolding!!

With All My Love,

Zach

Present the Package

Appreciation, Hope, Joy, Love, Self-Realization

Lately I have been working on a very important idea that I think we can all benefit from. It is similar to that old saying, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.”

We all hear that but how many of us actually practice that saying? Truthfully, we all want everybody to be like us! We want everybody to believe what we believe, think like we think, act like we act, eat like we eat, and so on and so forth. We are not content allowing others to chose the path they wish to take and walking our path simultaneously. We want to drag them on our path with us. We think we know better than that person and that our Truth is the ultimate Truth and if others don’t feel the same they are surely wrong. And then arguments ensue, and fighting, and then on a grand scale wars happen, and all that silly stuff; all because we were too close-minded to allow others to walk their own path. Why do we maintain this egocentric behavior when it does nothing but hurt others and cause us suffering?

We must let go of the fact that we are always right. Most of us think we are right simply because of what we have been told, or what we have learned, we have not done the work ourselves to look for the answers within. Our greatest teachers at times come from the most unsuspecting people, places, and events. However, if we are always so close-minded to the fact that others cannot teach us, we will always reside in the place of stagnation and resistance. We are all student-teachers, forever learning and instructing at the same time, yet if we feel that a child cannot teach us anything because we have been manifest in this reality longer, we shut ourselves off from the potential lessons we could learn from their playful nature. We must keep an open awareness so that we can fully learn and embrace all the wonderful lessons life has in store for us.

When it comes to being a teacher, we must realize that our responsibility is to present others with the wisdom we have awakened if they are asking for it. It is NOT our responsibility to enforce our views or beliefs on someone, many times our beliefs have come from a place of misunderstanding and that simply leads to more misunderstanding. To become a True teacher for friends, family, children, acquaintances, the world, whoever it may be, we must first do the work ourselves. We must look to the Spirit or Higher Self within and receive the answers there. This is not the mind or the ego, but the Self that is beyond the mind and ego. The Self that is the Divine Son or Daughter of God. That extension of God that is within. The perceiver of the experiences, the looker behind the eyes, our True Self. Yes, this takes practice, practice of understanding that the Self is the Truth and the ego is that which judges. However, as we continue to raise our sight to the Highest within ourselves through our thoughts, we lift our awareness to that state of connection and Oneness. From there can we be the ultimate teacher for our fellow Spirit brothers and sisters, to provide them with that wisdom they are needing in the times of asking.

As a teacher we must also present that wisdom and allow them to accept it or not if they choose. I had an analogy I felt was more fitting than leading a horse to water, but that it is like this…it is as if we are presenting our brothers and sisters with a package at their home and we begin to knock on the door. Nobody answers so we continue to knock. As we knock and knock our knuckles begin to bleed, then break, then we switch hands. As we knock with the other hand the same happens, and we are left with both our hands bloody and broken. We must leave the package at the doorstep and knock once and when our brothers and sisters are ready for the wisdom they will open the door and open the package. In presenting someone with the wisdom and making them receive it we just hurt ourselves. We must leave it for them to receive and continue on our path delivering packages to others who are also asking.

We first must assess ourselves and ask if what we believe uplifts us and makes our heart sing or if it is what we have learned. We then must do the work to change or strengthen those beliefs. And when we understand that as we connect with our Higher Self, with Spirit, that we can then consciously choose to be of service to others through the Wisdom we have awakened. In forcing others to believe as we do, we do nothing for their growth, nor allow them to expand as they wish and is their God-given right! We are all free to think, act, and speak as we choose and as such we must be the model for others. In thinking, speaking, and acting in a way that resonates with our heart, with God/Spirit, we invoke our Divine inheritance and we can then inspire those around us to choose that path as well.

“The healer is the man/woman that can inspire faith.” – Jesus

With All My Love,

Zach

Breaking the Shell

Appreciation, Hope, Joy, Love, Self-Realization

The month of September was quite a whirlwind. Everything seemed to fall apart. Absolutely EVERYTHING! My job came to a complete standstill, I injured my shoulder, and someone from my past made a re-entrance into my present. It made me wonder…why in the world is everything falling apart and going into this crazy whirlwind when I feel that I am doing everything correctly? Even though everything was crumbling around me I still had a sense of peace and centeredness, which didn’t make very much sense to me. Then I read something which Cynthia Occelli said, “”For a seed to achieve it’s greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, it’s insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn’t understand growth, it would look like complete destruction.”

That quote is absolutely true and came at the perfect time. I can see so many around me, myself included, that on the surface would seem like everything was falling apart! However, as I look at the deeper meaning there is much more going on than we recognize. Our True purpose is breaking free of the shell and all of the things that kept us encapsulated are breaking apart. I realized that I was, and sometimes still do, look at the situation from a very limited point of view. I only see what is happening on the surface, rather than diving deep into the depths so that I can look up and realize that the tiny changes on the surface are nothing compared to the vast depths of the stillness and perfect silence. Yet sometimes it seems difficult to dive down when the surface feels more safe. It is a practice of learning to go deeper rather to hang out on the surface, where we think everything is happening, when in reality it is the tip of the iceberg.

Our minds like to think we have all the answers, when in reality our minds simply deter us from the Truth. The Truth can only be known through our hearts, to follow the guidance we are being given and receive that guidance with an open heart. By over-thinking the pure messages we are receiving through our hearts we distort the message into something we can only perceive with our limited beliefs. We must take our awareness beyond our limited beliefs to that beliefs that we know in our hearts, the God beliefs, the beliefs of unlimited capabilities. We also must allow the shells in our life to fall apart so that we may grow into beautiful trees. If the trees allowed the seeds to encapsulate them forever, we would never perceive the beauty that is a tree. Just as the tree, we must allow the changes to occur so that we can grow into our True Selves, the beings of unlimited potential that is always waiting to be awakened.Image

We are growing into the beautiful beings we are meant to be and it is our choice whether we allow that change to happen or if we resist it? The question we must ask ourselves is, do I want to enjoy the process of change and unfolding or resist it and be upset? Either way it will happen and I for one would like to enjoy the process! I hope you would like to as well.

With All My Love,

Zach

Decision to change…

Appreciation, Hope, Joy, Love, Self-Realization, Uncategorized

So I have been meditating A LOT lately! What I’ve come to continually ask myself is…if I feel this amazing, abundant, creative source within me, surrounding me, and filling me up with its infinite Truth and Love when I meditate, why do I not take that Universal Life Force with me through the rest of my day?! Why do I not live it? Why do I not completely throw out all of the disallowing thoughts, words, and actions? Why do I continually fall into repetitive patterns of not trusting God, that Life Force; of feeling worried, concerned, sad? When is it time to become the change I want to see? What is it that causes that change? Is there a catalyst or do you just one day decide to make a change?

For the last 2 weeks I have been feeling very back and forth on this topic since breaking up with the most amazing woman I have ever known. I will feel sad, or scared, or doubtful and then I will meditate and those feelings will shift to empowerment, love, gratitude, faith, and trust. And those emotions will carry me for a while through the day, then those negative emotions come flooding back in after a moment of contradicting thoughts. So when is it for me, or us, to decide to become the change we want to be and see? When is it time to embody our God-given right? When is it time to become our True nature? When do we let that Universal Life Force, God, flood our physical bodies and permeate every fiber of our being? I can tell you that my time is now!

I know now that I am tired of feeling concerned! I consciously understand and know that a negative emotion is caused by God having his thought of my perfect nature and my thought in that moment not matching up with his thought for me. And contrastingly, when my thoughts line up with what God thinks about me I am feeling joy and love…so then why would I ever in my right mind think a thought contradicting God’s thought of me?! God is this all-seeing brighter perspective that is guiding me on the path that I have chosen. What I mean is that when I consciously intend to create an experience or health outcome or whatever, God now guides me on the path to the manifestation of the intention. And God guides me through my emotions. If I’m not on the path to creating my desire then I feel bad, and vice versa. So why do I, and I’m sure you too, consistently take myself off the path and feel bad? That is so silly! Is that not silly?! God wants all the good for His children that they can create, and I today am going to start creating!!!

I am over being tired and worn-down emotionally! I am done with questioning God’s infinite wisdom and Love for all His children and am going to NOW follow His desire for me, which is to be happy and create as I choose! I get to choose what it is I want to experience and because of God’s infinite Love, He creates through me! I am NOW choosing to be the God-man that is my, and our, True nature! I am NOW choosing to embody what God has bestowed upon me! To create as I choose! To love all beings as myself! To bring light to everyone around me! To help all those that need assistance in any way! To change the consciousness of the world through my own demonstration! To show the way to the light through my thoughts, words, actions, and life!! I can no longer have this knowledge and continue to do nothing with it! I must fully embody the Universal Life Force and live the life of that Truth! It is time for a change! Within myself and for the world! We are Divine creators by nature and I wish that all my friends begin to feel this power within them as well! I hope we can all find this Truth and begin to live it together!!

With All My Love,

Zach

Truth…

Appreciation, Hope, Joy, Love, Self-Realization

Now this afternoon I had one of the most incredible meditations I have ever had. I ended up meditating for exactly one hour without a timer. I didn’t realize that until just now, but I think it’s pretty amazing that my body KNEW to meditate for exactly one hour. However, while I was meditating I began to ask questions. When I felt that I was done asking myself questions I focused my attention on my breath. I felt the breath move in and out of my nostrils, and also felt it cause my belly to rise and fall.

For the first ten minutes, I would say, I was having somewhat of a mind battle. The one where I try to focus my awareness and then I start thinking of something, then try to focus my awareness and then start thinking of something again, etc. Once my mind battle was over, I truly began to FEEL my breath. I felt the sensations of the air flowing in through my nose, touching every nasal surface, and then flowing out. My breaths began to start getting deeper and more powerful and I could feel more pressure within my nose. And suddenly I began to affirm to myself, “I AM GOD.” This is an affirmation I use when I feel that my awareness is drifting and while I am breathing I will say “I AM” during the inhalation and “GOD” on the exhalation. I continued to do this until I felt I no longer needed to. Thoughts then started flooding my mind. Thoughts such as: “God is non-physical energy, as I am an extension of non-physical energy in physical form, I am God.” “Since I am God I have all that I have asked. When I ask, it is given. Now that I know I am non-physical in a physical vessel that carries God, all that I ask is given.” “Since I have all that God has, seeing as that God and I are One, I no longer need to worry about anything because I have everything I could ever need.” After I had accepted these thoughts and felt the purity for which they were I began to visualize my desires.

Typically I try not to visualize during my meditations but for some reason I felt that I should do it (maybe that was God telling me to do it). As I began to visualize what it is that I desire, I felt at ease. I felt the fluidity in which I was able to visualize my body being in complete wholeness, all the money I needed being supplied, my relationships in perfect harmony, and it felt INCREDIBLE!!! It felt like life just flowed through me and I was LIFE! I was all that life is and I didn’t want to release that feeling. I then began to think of those who I know who are ailing in some way. At that moment I felt the white light in the middle of my body (my heart) and imagined sending that white light to those who are in discord. I focused on sending these individuals the white light of love and life and saw them as whole. Their bodies were in their natural states again, wholeness.  The power of God felt as if it was flowing through me!! Once I spent maybe 5 minutes, I think, visualizing my desires and seeing others in their natural states I once again focused my awareness.

I again began to affirm, ” I AM GOD.” As I continued, thoughts overcame my awareness once more. This time however, all that came in was, “GOD is ALL. GOD is NOW. I AM GOD.” I have never liked affirmations much, but these came in with such force! The Truth to which these resonated inside of me was astounding! As I continued to affirm these statements I simply thought of the word, TRUTH. Immediately, the statement, “Truth lies in the eye of the beholder” popped into my mind. I discontinued the affirmation and pondered that statement briefly.

Now here I was having an incredible experience, feeling connected with the Source from which I came, KNOWING that I was on a path of cosmic or universal or divine understanding and knowledge, and yet so many others did not feel or think the same . So does that make one of us wrong? Was I fooling myself? Or was I starting to take my blinders off while so many others still had them on? My answer was this: Our true nature is Love. God is Love, God is Life, therefore Love is Life and Life is Love. So, if we are allowing Love to fill our physical vessels, in that moment we are God. Love is kind, it is compassionate, it is caring, it is patient, it is forgiving. That means that if we are truly Love, if we allow ourselves to be fully enveloped in Love, allow it to penetrate and fill up each and every one of the cells in our body, then we are truly God. That means that nobody needs to be right or wrong, that means that to search within ourselves is to find God, that means not looking at others to bring you happiness but finding it within yourself, that means to acknowledge a friend, loved one, or stranger and KNOW with full certainty that we have all come from One infinite Source, that we are all here to benefit the world with our Love and internal Light! This I KNOW with full certainty!

I KNOW that if we all search for Truth within ourselves that we would all come to the conclusion that life is more than earning hoards of money, more than spending most of our lives at a stressful job, more than worrying about another, more than fear and pain. Our answer would all be that life is meant to be lived, to laugh uncontrollably, to see beauty all around us, to feel the presence of God within us and around us, to uplift those surrounding us, to feel strength and security in Spirit, to know that we are always making a difference and when we are conscious of it we are changing the world for the better, and to KNOW that we are all connected and that LOVE is who we are and will always be! That, I KNOW is Truth! I know that those who are searching will find this.

“As above, so below. As within, so without.”

With All My Love,

Zach

Water the roots….

Appreciation, Hope, Joy, Love, Self-Realization

Hello friends,

So my incredible girlfriend has really been making me think lately.  Every time I seem bewildered by some thought or belief I have she will simply reply, “Well are you?” or “Do you?” It is as if she is telling me to look within myself and find the answers…truly look within my self, get rid of all the garbage I have in my mind, and genuinely look within and find the answers…and here is what I’ve come up with 🙂

I came to realize that I am very judgmental and self-righteous. I always look at other individuals and think to myself, “You do this which is wrong because I do it this way!” When I watch other personal trainers I think, “Your way of training is ineffective because it is not the way that I train!” When I speak to someone about religion or spirituality again I think, “that is crazy to believe what you believe because it is not what I believe and what I believe is Truth!” All of these are exaggerations, but the at the core of what I am thinking are those thoughts. They may be thought somewhat differently, but they all revolve around me being right and you being wrong. What is that? Why do I always have to be right? Aren’t there enough ideas and beliefs and whatever for everyone to have? Why do I have to make everyone train the way that I train, or eat the way I eat, or believe what I believe?

After looking within I found that I have a huge ego!!!! Not the ego where you think you’re beautiful and amazing and so forth, but the ego that separates me from my divine nature, God. I always have to be right, and the smartest, and most knowledgable, and get the accolades, and me, me, me, me, me!!! And that is not a good thing! It’s a little crazy honestly. I would actually start fights with Sara, my perfect girlfriend, about something to question her beliefs and then tell her how she always had to be right…when in actuality I was the one trying to prove to myself about how right my differing opinion was! Does that not sound ridiculous!?!? For me, being right was a virus, and it caused a tremendous amount of turmoil in my life. But what the cause of that virus was, was my EGO!!

I took a wintermester yoga class at UNR a few years ago. My teacher was a martial artist and was discussing Bruce Lee one day. She was explaining how he was her favorite martial artist ever, but mentioned that what got in his way and perhaps killed him was his ego. Now I am not sure if his ego killed him, it very well could have, but the point is that what she said stuck with me. I was a martial artist as a child and idolized Bruce Lee. He was the one and only martial artist for me. So as I started looking within recently, I found that my ego is doing the same thing as Bruce Lee’s. It is getting in the way of my spiritual expansion. It is holding me back. Then I wondered what this thing I call my ego is?

I feel that my ego is all the ideas I have taken in from the outside world that has caused me to believe that I am separate from everything in this world. That I am, for some reason, one single person in the entire universe and can only trust myself, and will only have myself forever, and only know myself, and me, me, me, me…AHHHHHH!!!!!!

I have lived my life going in and out of feeling connected to all others and everything and being self-righteous and ego driven! And it sucks!!!!! Some days you are as high as a kite and a week later you are feeling separate and self-righteous. However, I never took the time to truly look within myself and find the answers for myself, so that is what I have been doing these past 2 weeks. I have always known the answers, just never took the time to truly accept them. Somewhere I knew that I was being held back by my beliefs, and knowledge, and everything else that I have gathered along my 24 years. Not all of it was bad, in fact a lot of knowledge I have come across has helped me grow immensely and has led me to this point in my life. However, I know that it is time to take out the trash.

The trash in my mind…the beliefs that are not in accordance with who I really am, Spirit. It’s time to be accepting, by listening and being understanding of other individuals’ beliefs and values and opinions simply because they are what that person thinks. It is not up to me to change everyone’s mind and make everyone believe as I do, if that was the case this world would be really boring and really crazy!! 😉 I need to treasure and be grateful for the immense diversity on the planet…that is what makes us so beautiful!! All I can do is become the change I want to see…become that which is my True Self, Spirit, and live the life that is in harmony with that. Not judging or condemning anyone else for feeling or thinking differently, but know that we are brothers and sisters to whom I get to love and be grateful for.

I like to leave you with something I experienced this morning. While I was watering our terribly dry lawn a thought came to me…”If you only water the top layer of grass it will get burned and die, it is only when you water the deep roots that the grass will thrive and grow.” The reason this meant so much to me was the reason for me writing this. I had, and continually have to, search the depths of myself to grow. It is then that I will thrive with the understanding of myself and Spirit.

I hope that if you read this it helps you as much as it helped me!!!

With All My Love,

Zach