Nancy Dadami

Create Sacred Space Within You And Around You

What I Learnt From Staying Focused During Difficult Times

by @elioverbey

red and white roller coaster on railings
Photo by Min An on Pexels.com

Life is like riding a roller coaster. Imagine yourself strapped into that car chugging up the rickety rails to the top and in an instant you are plunging down so fast your knuckles are white from gripping the safety bar, you feel your heart pounding like thunder in your chest, the wind plasters your hair against your head, and your mouth is open wide as you let out a terrifying scream.

Life, just like a roller coaster it has its ups and downs. You may even experience a few twists and turns along the journey.

Nancy Dadami

Sometimes the downs are personal and sometimes they are environmental. Loss of a loved one, a cancer diagnosis, unhealthy air quality caused by fire storms, and draining or stagnant energy in your home.  

Whenever something disturbing happens staying focused can be a challenge.

Here are 10 tips to help you stay focused even during difficult times.

  1. Give Yourself a Break – Take a deep breath, hold, and slowly exhale. Do that 3 times and let your body relax. Feel your neck and shoulders let go, your belly relax, and your mind find calmness. I’m not saying to ignore how you feel. You’re allowed to have bad days and feel your feelings. It’s good to feel the emotions you feel and let them out though talking, crying, journaling, or creating intentional art. The secret is not to wallow in those feelings for days.
  • Set a “Worry” Time Limit – Set time limits to letting loose of your feelings and feeling all the things you need. Maybe you choose 10 minutes during your day where you won’t be interrupted and let your feelings out.  You can even set many time limits. For example, if you must get through a day of work or an emotional difficulty, set a time later for feeling all the feelings so that you can get through your current situation.  
  • Sleep Well – This can be a hard thing to do when you’re having a tough time in life, but you must try to make your sleep a priority in good and bad times. You can always catch up later when it’s vital that you are awake. A power nap might be the right action to help you catch up on sleep.
  • Eat Right – When a crisis is occurring your body processes are in high alert.  It’s not the time to start eating unhealthy food. It’s a time that you want to take great care of your body by providing it with the fuel it needs. Set a schedule and make sure you’re eating enough good nutrition and calories to give yourself fuel. It is a time to get more vegetables, fruits, water, and good quality protein.
  • Keep Exercising – It may be even more important now to find time for your walks than at any other time. Walking in nature or your neighborhood burns off stress and worry. Exercise even helps you sleep better, feel more positive, and is a great way to get through hard times
  • Be Mindful – It’s easy to get distracted when your emotions are being affected by what is happening in your life or the world. However, before you start a new activity, always take time to center yourself with a good deep breath so that you can be mindful of what is happening right this moment. The issue may still be there when you are centered and you will be calmer in dealing with it.
  • Keep an “I’m okay” Journal – When things are bad, it’s hard to feel like anything will ever be okay again. However, most of the time, you can find some things that are at least okay about your day, if not something to be outright grateful for now. An I’m Okay journal helps you focus on what is going well in your life. The more you focus on what is going well the better you will feel.
  • Clean Up Your Environment – Allowing your environment to get cluttered and dirty when the world is crumbling around you seems like a natural thing to do, but the truth is, it makes things worse. Clutter robs you of your physical and emotional energy, causing you to feel scattered, frustrated, and overwhelmed. Set a regular time that you keep your environment clean because that’s going to help you feel more in control, confident and successful.
  • Get Rid of Distractions – Turn off your phone, social media, and the radio or TV when you’re doing certain activities. If you need to focus, don’t do other things.  Research shows that doing multiple tasks is stressful to your brain. Even listening to music can cause you to miss out on essential points. Anything worth doing is worth doing 100 percent.
  1. Ask for Help – If you are having trouble controlling your thoughts and nothing you try is working after a few days, you may want to ask for help. Counselors, life coaches, and soul menotrs can help you through difficult times so that you can focus on the other things that are important to you.

A life well-lived is going to have difficult times. The rollercoaster of life is what makes it exciting, that is how learn. Going through challenges helps you grow. You feel new emotions, try new things, and come out better for the experience, even if it felt impossible while it was happening.

Everything passes eventually, and you can get through difficult times without losing focus on what is important to you. Hold onto that safety bar as your rollercoaster car is diving. You will make it.

NANCY DADAMI – is transforming the way spirited women function in their surroundings. I teach smart busy business owners to create workspaces that make their heart sing, empower their work and shorten their path to success. As a Feng Shui Consultant, Energy Reader and Soul Flow Artist, I help you understand “the flow” and find Peace of Mind in your life and business. See her personal website here https://nancydadami.com.

Listen to A Loving Kindness Meditation here https://nancydadami.com/LKM

Stop Falling Out Of The Flow State And How To Get Back In Flow

by @elioverbey

Your inner voice chatters at you all day long. Right now, it is hovering over you. “You are not checking off enough tasks on your to-do list. There is only 1 hour left in your workday and you are behind.”

Panic sets in and you launch into hyper-drive. You must complete the day’s tasks, no matter how long it takes. The mantra “work harder, work harder” fills your thoughts.

Instead of working harder you feel anxious, overwhelmed and stressed. You fall out of the flow state. Your productivity plummets. You are out of ideas. You think if you work harder and longer you will check all the tasks off the list.

Working harder is not the answer.

What is the flow state?

When you are in the flow state you are alert and fully engaged. It is an energized and happy state where you are immersed in your project or actions. 

You are without self-consciousness, doubt or judgment. When you are in the flow state you are confident, creative and tasks fall together with ease.

Flow is a positive and uplifting state of being.

Unlike hyper-drive, being in the flow has no anxiety, stress, overwhelm or other negative emotions associated with it. Negative emotions block your ability to get into and stay in the flow state.

Your project was moving forward with ease, you were in the flow. Then you started to worry about finishing the list. You immediately left the flow and popped into stress. 

The mantra “work harder, work harder” kicked in and you need an intervention to stop that negative thinking.

How Are You Showing Up?

It starts with knowing how you show up. What do you bring to your to-do list? Are you excited, positive, and confident? Or do you complain, dread, and worry?

You take who you are (your mindset, beliefs, experience, etc.) into every situation, creative endeavor and relationship.

Who are you at the moment? You can only be as good as you are at the moment whether you are happy, confident, or stressed.

You have a personal energy field within you and around you that impact your thoughts, actions and flow. This energy field is influenced by your thoughts, feelings, and level of self-care.

How To Get back Into The Flow State?

Your project was moving forward with ease, you were in the flow. Then you started to worry about finishing the list. You immediately left the flow and popped into stress.  The mantra “work harder, work harder” kicked in and you need an intervention to stop that negative thinking.

Scientific studies show that you are more productive and efficient when you take breaks from your “to do” list. Research reveals you get more done when you take a 5-minute break every twenty minutes.  The break gives your brain the time it needs to refresh and replenish before continuing to work. It helps create a state of flow.

What can you do during that 5-minute break that will replenish you, boost your personal power and move you back into the flow?

A Flow Alignment Technique

When I fall out of the flow state or take my 5-minute break here is one flow alignment technique I use:

I move away from my desk and do this simple breathing flow alignment technique.

Notice:

  • What are your feelings or emotions?
  • Is your mind racing or is it calm?
  • Scan your body for places that are tight or hurt. Make a mental not of it.
  • Notice your breathing. Is it mostly in your chest or in your belly?

Here Are The Steps For One Flow Alignment Technique

Step #1 – Close your eyes and take a slow deep breath.

Step #2 – Breathe a slow deep breath again. This time imagine your body expanding up through your head and down through your tailbone

Step #3 – Breathe a slow deep breath in again and imagine your body expanding from side to side. Imagine your ribs lead the way.

Step #4 – Breathe in again and imagine your body expanding from front to back

Step #5 – Put it all together by breathing in and imagine your body is a balloon filling up with air in all directions

Step #6 – Repeat these steps at least 3 to 9 times and you will feel refreshed and energized.

Step #7 – Revisit the noticing process you did before you began the breathing. Do you notice a shift and one or more areas?

This is a quick technique that can be used several times a day to replenish you and reset your personal energy field to a state of flow. You don’t have to worry about that to-do list anymore because you have a flow alignment technique.

You may also want to read this article Personal Power Where Do You Stand?

Nancy Dadami is an Intentional Flow Strategist, Energy Reader, and Mentor. She teaches smart, strong, successful Baby Boomers and Gen X’ers to understand “the flow” and find peace of mind in their life & business.

Why Tiny Habit Tweaks Create Big Results

by @elioverbey

Crystal wakes up in the morning, her mind racing with a list of the tasks she wants to accomplish that day. She checks her email and social media while she waits for her coffee to brew. Then it is off to work in her home office. Crystal is the kind of person that doesn’t think about her routines or habits.

She wishes she was more productive and healthier. She knows some of her habits are getting in the way of the life she desires. She thinks “if I could just organize my time I would fit everything in.” Crystal knows she should exercise regularly to be healthier but she doesn’t have time in her day for that.

Do you have routines or habits that stop you from living the life you want?

Take a moment and think about your routines and habits. What could you accomplish in a week, a month, or even a year if you created tiny habits today and kept building on them over time?

Trying to make huge changes all at once usually leads to overwhelm or failure because it is hard to make big changes all at once; However by taking small steps with tiny habits toward a bigger goal you realize it is doable, sustainable, and a path to success.

Habits of all kinds–both good and bad–have compounding effects, which means the more you do something, the greater the results.

The more often you lace up those sneakers and get out there, the sooner you’ll achieve better heart health, more energy, and greater motivation to stick with your new habit.

Likewise, the more frequently you eat processed food, drink alcohol, smoke, skip exercising, or partake in other unhealthy habits, the more health problems you’ll have over time.

What is a Tiny Habit?

Tiny habits are those small actions we take every day without thinking about it. Brushing your teeth, checking your email, washing your face, and making your bed. Some of our habits we were taught as kids and others we taught ourselves.

Tiny habits are also quick and easy, sometimes less than two minutes, therefore we don’t even notice them taking up any time out of our day.

Try adding a new tiny habit for 2 minutes a day. In the sneaker example above, certainly you need much more time than two minutes to improve your health benefits; but adding an extra two minutes to your current running/walking workout is negligible. Adding another two minutes the next week you probably still won’t notice. However, if youKeep increasing your time by two minutes and soon enough you’ll be running/walking longer distances.

Adding these small increments of time is sustainable and harmless whereas thinking you can run/walk a 26.2-mile marathon when your current training is only 30-minutes long is simply foolish.  

Every single area of your life can be improved with the help of tiny habits; just do a bit of soul-searching to decide where you want to focus or what specifically needs improving.

Having a goal in mind will lead you in the right direction and these tiny habits will build the processes necessary to reach those goals.

Health

Create a tiny habit to drink more water or to eat more fruits and vegetables daily. Plan to have fresh fruits, vegetables, and bottled water handy. Within a few weeks, your body will be craving more water and preparing produce with meals will become second nature.

You can also create a tiny habit to get more movement. It takes me 2 minutes to lay out my walking clothes, shoes, visor, and sunglasses next to the bed. In the morning, there is no thinking, I jump up, put on my clothes, sneakers and hit the road.

Relationships

You have many types of relationships to choose from here. There is the relationship with yourself, spouse or partner, family, friends, colleagues, clients, community, and world.

Create a tiny habit to reconnect with yourself each morning and throughout the day. You could spend 2 minutes focusing on your breath. It helps you focus and stay present to what you are doing. When I was a high school principal, I would go into the restroom stall (the only place people would not interrupt me) and breathe for 2 minutes to keep me focused and present.

If you have more time, create a tiny habit to spend 10 minutes reconnecting with your spouse/partner at the end of the day. After awhile you will find yourself looking forward to that time of connecting and your relationship will get stronger.

Think of a relationship you want to improve and create your own tiny habit to implement.

Business

Create firm business hours–especially if you work from home. Nobody wants their work to leak into their personal time.

Have you heard of the Pomodoro Technique?  When you can use it you get more done. Studies show that the brain responds better to short sessions with a break away from your work. Try it so you can complete projects or meet deadlines faster.

The Pomodoro Technique is as simple as using a kitchen timer to block off 25-minute increments where you focus on a task until the timer rings. Take a 5-minute break. Get up walk around, refresh your tea, use the restroom, and then reset the timer for the next 25-minute session.

These are just a few ideas; you’re only limited by your own creativity and by what aspect of your life you need to focus on and want to improve.

You can build a big new habit by implementing tiny habits every day.

MOTIVATION Is What Gets You Started.

HABIT Is What Keeps You Going.

~Jim Rohn

Want more help with productivity? Check out this Free Productivity Challenge http://nancyhelps.me/Productivity Challenge offered by Connie Ragen Green, a mentor of mine. I am currently in the challenge and it is making a big difference for me in my personal and professional life.

You might also want to read these articles about mindset:http://nancyhelps.me/Mindset1 and http://nancyhelps.me/Mindset2

Nancy Dadami is a Feng Shui Master by trade, an Artist at heart, and a Teacher from her Soul. She teaches open-minded people to unlock their potential and tap into their Inner Magnificence to live a life of purpose and meaning.

Everything You Want Is In The Flow State

by @elioverbey

The flow state holds the key to everything you want. Peace of mind, prosperity, fulfilling relationships, a meaningful career, vibrant health & happiness can easily be yours when you dwell in the flow.

What is the Flow State?

The flow state happens when your personal energy vibration, desires, and surroundings are aligned.

Enter the state of flow when you are happy, confident, and creative, everything seems to go smoothly, you are grateful, you can laugh easily, and your thinking is clear.

There is no flow state when you are angry, depressed, worried, confused, and stressed. Or you also feel like everything is difficult, nothing is going your way no matter how hard you try, or you blame others for your circumstances.

Here Are 2 Crucial Concepts From the “Law of Flow”

There is inner flow and outer flow. It is not enough to get your outer surroundings aligned if your inner landscape is cluttered with harmful thoughts, a negative attitude, and limiting beliefs.

Inner Flow

Inner flow is that place where your body, mind, soul, and intuition connect and align.

You influence your inner flow by the food you eat, your exercise routine, your sleeping habits, your thoughts, words, and time for self-care.

The soul appears to be mysterious because it seems to be hidden from you. Yet, it is available for you when you learn to listen to its messages.

Your soul is designed to keep you healthy on all levels, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

It is an intuitive transmitter and is always giving you feedback, even when you are not listening.

Your soul is the loudest, most relentless part of your inner being. It makes you restless about why you are here.

Your desires to matter, mean something to someone and, make a difference are calls from your Soul.

Meditation and self-care routines support your inner flow.

Outer Flow

Outer flow is about energy and your surroundings or environment.

It is about visible energy in your space such as a desk and the invisible energy present like your emotions.

Have you been in a room with someone and you could feel their emotions of love or anger without them having to say anything?

Emotions are present even when no one speaks.  Feelings create an energy vibration in your space that can be felt whether it is uplifting or draining to your flow.

When you move or add items in your surroundings you change outer flow too. Outer flow depends on the alignment of the visible and invisible energies in your spaces, and that is where Feng Shui can be your secret weapon to get your outer flow aligned.

The Flow State

Alignment is what it is all about. Sync up your inner flow with your outer flow and enter the flow state.

You know when the flow is lacking in your life by the way you feel. If you feel fear, worry, hesitation, and warnings about a current situation you are not in the flow.

Intuition speaks to you through your gut feelings. You may recognize it in a toxic relationship, a stressful job, or exhaustion. Intuition gives you clues when something is not quite right.

In the flow messages also come to you from your intuition. Feelings of excitement, comfort, safety, and trust, especially when wondering if you should take on a new project, help a needy friend or stand up for yourself in a relationship. Intuition also gives you clues when something is right.

There are benefits to following the clues to that lead you into your flow state.

Benefits of the  Flow State

  • More freedom, flexibility, and fun
  • Peace of mind
  • More ease and grace
  • Confidence in making the right decisions
  • More of what you want
  • Live a life that matters, has meaning and is fulfilling physically, emotionally & spiritually

When you sync up your life and business with your inner flow and your outer flow you enter the sacred space of the “Flow State”, where everything you want resides.

Another article and video about flow you may find helpful:

Feng Shui and Flow Tips Video

Law of Flow To The Rescue

Nancy Dadami is a Feng Shui Practitioner, Soul Flow Mentor, and Intuitive. She teaches creatives, lovers of life, and small business owners to live in “the flow”, so they can create their Life & Business to sync up with their Soul.

Mindset Secret #2 – Develop A Growth Mindset

by @elioverbey

Michelle was in her forties when she felt like she was missing something and realized she was unhappy with her life. She was living the life she dreamed of when she was twenty, and she was disappointed. Michelle had:

  • beautiful home on a lot surrounded by nature with a gourmet kitchen and a view of the valley below
  • a fulfilling marriage to a man that was her best friend and lover
  • two busy teenage children active in sports and school activities. She adored them
  • a dog named Barney that ran to greet her every time she came through the front door

But what Michelle didn’t know was that she was stuck in a rut.

Each day was the routine that never varied, she drove the same route to work, ate the same quick meals, and went home to have the same evening schedules and conversations with her family.

She was going through the motions of what she thought was a happy life.

When she overheard someone at work talking about a “growth mindset”, she did a Google search and realized that’s what she’d been missing.

“I was being so careful to do everything right, to color inside the lines. But when I heard about growth mindset, I knew that’s what my life was lacking—growth.

I had stopped trying new things and experimenting.” “My life had become predictable nothing new, no challenges, no expansion, and no passion.

What Is a Growth Mindset?

A growth mindset is the belief that even though you may not have certain qualities, you can develop them through learning and practice. It is seeing your possibilities from a positive perspective.

If you have a growth mindset, you might think things like, “If I practice my painting skills, I can get better at creating art.” Or you might say, “I can learn to meditate if I take a class about it.” Or you sign up for the belly dancing class you always thought about taking.

The beauty of a growth mindset is that it gives you freedom.

You’re free to try new things, experiment, and study the results.

With a growth mindset, the outcome of a situation doesn’t become your identity.

How Can You Lean into a Growth Mindset?

Developing a growth mindset doesn’t mean that you must do something radical like sell all your possessions and move halfway across the world.

A growth mindset is more about staying open to new experiences and new people.

It can be as simple as a willingness to try a hip-hop dance class at your local gym, change your comfortable routines, and seek out new relationships with people who are different from you.

 

What If You Surprised Yourself?

Michelle surprised herself by signing up for acting classes. She’d always loved musicals and she liked the idea of performing in front of a crowd. So, she gave it a try and found it uplifting.

The classes had a benefit she hadn’t counted on either—increased confidence. She felt bold and empowered again.

This helped her lead more effective presentations at work and within a few months, her boss promoted her.

Of course, not every surprise has been wonderful. Michelle also signed up for a knitting group. “I loved the people there, but I quickly discovered that knitting wasn’t my thing. Still, I’m glad I was willing to give the experience a try.”

How open are you to new experiences and people? Here is something I do each month. Give it a try.:

  • get a blank 8 1/2 x 11-inch piece of paper
  • place it in front of you in the horizontal position
  • make 3 equal columns
  • at the top of the first column write What I am Doing
  • in the middle column write What I should be Doing
  • in the last column write What I want to be Doing

Give yourself some quiet time to write in each column. You will be surprised as you find clarity and awareness about your growth mindset.

A growth mindset is a wonderful way to go through life. It means embracing the unknown and being willing to take risks, even when it feels a little bit scary (and fun!).

You can read Mindset Secret #1 Here

You may also be interested in What Are You Saying Yes To?

If you know someone that would benefit from this article, please forward it to them.

Nancy Dadami is a Flow Specialist, Creatively Fit Coach, and Intuitive, teaching you how to get Better Flow Faster so you can live a life you love.