Hello, Stranger!

I have recently started up a new blog. Please swing by and follow me there!

www.ajrhodesblog.wordpress.com

I figured I would stop by over here and share the first post.

Hi, my name is AJ Rhodes

Allow me to introduce myself.  I'm a barely domesticated mom of two, holding down a full-time job, and a life that is a bit disjointed at the moment. I'm an addict of self-help books and am full of great ideas on how to improve other people's lives, but struggle with my own.

Now, I haven't always been a total mess. At various times in my life, I have had my shit together: checkbook balanced, dedicated exercise routine, time for friends and passions, a rockstar at work, a healthy eater, clean house, well-adjusted kids - all of it. I wrote blogs and books. I showed up to writing conferences. I practiced capoeria. I was the queen of How Does She Do It.

Then, about two years ago, my husband and I split up. We split up the belongings, the bills, the time with the kids -- everything. Damn near 50/50. It was the right decision, but often times, right doesn't mean easy. It is a unique experience to go from doing half the stuff 100% of the time to doing 100% of the stuff 100% of the time. There were things that I had to learn, and things I am STILL learning. Despite not being properly prepared to deal with it, things would pop  up and scream, "Um, well you have to deal with it--- so suck it up!"

It was like learning how to juggle all over again. I quickly realized that I had to put a few things down and just start with the basics. Kids, Work, and Home - those were the three things I needed to focus on. I had to put down writing, capoeira, exercise breaks, time with friends, etc. I was in survival mode.

Once I had my arms wrapped around that a bit more, then I needed to work on healing. I did this is a very private space. Alone.

I am now ready to move to the next chapter. To create a life that I love. One that includes the things that are important to me. I would love for you to join me. Maybe it will help you get to that next level, too. My goal is to share my struggles, my accomplishments, my writing, and my soul in the hopes of touching others who struggle with similar issues. In future posts, I plan to share books, music, articles, recipes, life hacks, inspiration, humorous stories, and most importantly, my truth.

Welcome to  A LIFE CREATED...

Freestyle Friday: Meditation

 

On Tuesday, I wrote about using mediation in your writing.  I wanted to touch on the subject once more. Meditation can be a way to find stillness in this hectic world, and it is beneficial to your overall wellness. Though meditation requires nothing other than you and the focus on your breath, in the beginning it can be difficult. Below you will find a few tools to help with meditation.

“I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope, for hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love, for love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, but the faith and the love are all in the waiting. Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought: So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.”
― T.S. Eliot

“Quiet the mind, and the soul will speak.”
― Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati, The 11 Karmic Spaces: Choosing Freedom from the Patterns That Bind You  

“Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in Eternal awareness or Pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity.”
― Voltaire 

Books

Clicking on the bookcovers will take you to the Amazon pages where you can read the opening pages.

 CDs and MP3s - Guided Meditations

Guided meditation makes it a bit easy to concentrate only only the task at hand.  It helps you recognize when your brain is jumping the track.Clicking on the images will take you to Amazon or SoundsTrue.

Videos

No need to spend money. There are many guided mediation videos available on Youtube. They range from 5 minutes to over an hour, and include many different types of focus such as healing, relaxation, or self-confidence. Here are a few sample youtube videos that provide guided meditation. 

New to mediation--start small. Give yourself 5 minutes to get in touch with your imagination. 


This is a 10 minute guided mediation to help with self-confidence.


 
A 10 minute guided mediation for deep relaxation.

Pandora Stations

Already versed in mediation. Sometimes just adding a bit of music helps. Here are a few Pandora stations that I have used for meditation. Just enter any of the following into www.pandora.com under "New Station".

 

 

Video Games

Yes, they even have video games to assist with mediation. Deepak Chopra's Leela is an interactive meditative video game available for the Wii and Kinect game consoles. Below is a trailer.