All posts by Amy Jaffe

Finding Your Strengths

finding-your-strengthsOne of the workshops we teach at Indrani’s Light Foundation is called “Finding Resilience.”  We talk about the importance of shame resilience, understanding the attributes of empathy, identifying your shame story, naming your trusted network of people, and lastly, we explore your strengths that help you through your everyday life.

Are you facing a challenge that is coming up soon?  Maybe you are planning to have a difficult conversation with a friend, or family member?  Or maybe you need to ask for a raise.

Right now you may be in “survival mode.”  We often numb ourselves from our true feelings, needs, and desires.  We can also lose our sense of identity and our values.  But in order to lead a full and meaningful life, we must reconnect with ourselves.  This mean we connect with our deeply held values.

In order to recover from the survival mode, we must find our strengths.

The first thing we ask people to do is to take the VIA Character Strengths Test.  This is a place to start to begin identifying some of your most powerful strengths.  Go to {this website now} and take the free test.

What strengths are you bringing to the table?

The second thing we’d like to offer you is a personal, short meditation from Indrani to help you find your strengths.

In the past, think of something you did that you were proud of.  What were the strengths that made this happen?  Were you brave?  Did you have a love of learning?  Maybe you used humor, or practiced gratitude.

Focus on the memory, and bring it with you when you go ask for that raise, or have the difficult conversation with your friend or family member.

Here is Indrani’s meditation, “Finding Your Strengths.”

[powerpress]

Send us to Houston
for the
“Caregiver Project”

Click here to support us with a click of a button

[The Caregiver Project}

ILF logo_vert_trans

*Meditate With Indrani *
recording series

Click here to access her FREE meditations

[Meditate with Indrani}

ILF logo_vert_trans

Live A Brighter Life
online workshop series

Click here to access our FREE online recordings

[Live A Brighter Life}

ILF logo_vert_trans

*Meditate With Indrani* ~ Stop at the Drive Thru

Meditate with Indrani imageToday’s 3-minute meditation is about giving you permission to experience 5 percent more joy today.  Indrani has provided a “Drive Thru” meditation for those of you who need to check in with yourselves during a busy day.  There are times when we are unable to sit still for awhile to take care of ourselves.  Hopefully this short meditation will give you the time you need to tap into a little more joy.

Namaste.

Indrani presents ….  {“Stop at the Drive Thru”}

 

[powerpress]

*Meditate With Indrani *
recording series

Click here to access her FREE meditations

[Meditate with Indrani}

ILF logo_vert_trans

Live A Brighter Life
online workshop series

Click here to access our FREE online recordings

[Live A Brighter Life}

ILF logo_vert_trans

Send us to Houston
for the
“Caregiver Project”

Click here to support us with a click of a button

[The Caregiver Project}

ILF logo_vert_trans

Of all the things I’ve lost, I miss my mind the most

lost imageI lost something the other day (not my mind … I am coming to that).

It was a device.

A device that kept me connected to the outside world.  A device that helped me to accomplish my mission to end violence to women.

It was my iPad.

First, I reached out to a friend to go to my house to see if I left it there. Nope, not at home. Then I thought that I must have left it on the plane. My heart sank.

So I was about to give up, but then remembered I had used it to Skype earlier in the day. My heart felt happy. So it had to be somewhere in the hotel room.

Unless I took it to a restaurant and left it there.  My heart sank again

I decided to call my “MacGyver.”  Her real name is Amy Jaffe and she keeps me sane, along with my other ILF Team members, Stacie and Jeremie.

Amy says she could launch my iCloud account to help me locate it.  After a few minutes she said, “It’s in the building, where you are now?

I began to furiously search again.
I even looked in the mini bar!
I could not find it ANYWHERE, and my room is small!

I was desperate.
I was also going nuts!

It was time to give up, so I tried to take a nap.
Then …. BOOM! I reached out and inserted my hand between the mattress and headboard, and THERE it was. My heart felt happy.

Okay, so now, how do I relate this to when I feel out of control and losing my sane mind? The mind that keeps me connected to my inner wonderful world?

What do I DO when the crazy mind wants to hijack me?

First, I can call a friend. I can allow my friend to offer ideas of where my mind could be. My friend could ask funny questions like, “Where did you see your mind last?” “What were you doing when you realized that you had lost your mind?” “Does your mind usually wander off without your knowledge?”

Okay, so the last two questions are not funny. They can actually help.

My responses can be something like, “Well the last time I had my mind was before the conversation with Mother, Father, child, boss, customer service person, husband, ex-husband, etc.”

Get it?

You get to THINK out loud about when last you were in control of your own mind.
When you have sorta-kinda identified when you lost it, you can rest quietly knowing it is close at hand!

It’s somewhere in your space.

It may be hiding in a closet, afraid of the crazy mind that took over, but it is not gone forever.

You must practice extreme self-care at this point to locate it and coax it back to you.
I decided to take a nap, remember?

** You can download our self-care module here and find an easy self-care tool and begin to practice it.

I use the tool of gratitude every night before I go to bed.  Some nights I am so wound up that my crazy mind tells the better part of me to, “Just forget about all that stupid gratitude.  What is it getting you any way?”  Then my sane mind has to say, “I will even be grateful that I can ignore that unhelpful message,” and then begin to write down my gratitude list for that day.

In the meantime, here is a short 12-minute meditation to help you to settle into some peace and tranquility.

Love and light,
Indrani

 

*Meditate With Indrani *
recording series

Click here to access her FREE meditations

[Meditate with Indrani}

ILF logo_vert_trans

Live A Brighter Life
online workshop series

Click here to access our FREE online recordings

[Live A Brighter Life}

ILF logo_vert_trans

Send us to Houston
for the
“Caregiver Project”

Click here to support us with a click of a button

[The Caregiver Project}

ILF logo_vert_trans

*Meditate With Indrani* ~ Sit With a Wise One

Meditate with Indrani imageIndrani would love to share some of her meditations with you.  Her desire is to assist you in beginning a meditation practice, if you do not have one.   If you have a meditation practice, these weekly meditations will help you to work on living a brighter life.

Today’s 12-minute meditation is about sitting with someone who is very wise.  Is this person Nelson Mandela?  Mother Teresa?  Buddha?  Jesus?  Maybe it’s a close friend whom you admire, and consider them very wise.  Indrani will help you breathe in the wisdom this wise person has to offer you.  You can breathe in compassion, forgiveness, future thinking, or maybe a big dream of changing the world.  You will come to see that the wisdom from this person does not just belong to them …. it belongs to YOU.

“Sit with a Wise One” Meditation Recording:

[powerpress]

*Meditate With Indrani *
recording series

Click here to access her FREE meditations

[Meditate with Indrani}

ILF logo_vert_trans

Live A Brighter Life
online workshop series

Click here to access our FREE online recordings

[Live A Brighter Life}

ILF logo_vert_trans

Send us to Houston
for the
“Caregiver Project”

Click here to support us with a click of a button

[The Caregiver Project}

ILF logo_vert_trans

*Meditate With Indrani* ~ Opening Your Heart

Meditate with Indrani image

Indrani would love to share some of her meditations with you.  Her desire is to assist you in beginning a meditation practice, if you do not have one.   If you have a meditation practice, these weekly meditations will help you to work on living a brighter life.

Today’s 8-minute meditation is about opening your heart and loving yourself unconditionally.  Self acceptance is the first step to loving ourselves without condition.  Listen to this meditation carefully, and then go to the mirror and say to the person you see, “I love you.”

“Opening Your Heart” Meditation Recording:

[powerpress]

*Meditate With Indrani *
recording series

Click here to access her FREE meditations

[Meditate with Indrani} 

ILF logo_vert_trans

Live A Brighter Life
online workshop series

Click here to access our FREE online recordings

[Live A Brighter Life}

ILF logo_vert_trans

Send us to Houston
for the
“Caregiver Project”

Click here to support us with a click of a button

[The Caregiver Project}

ILF logo_vert_trans

*Meditate with Indrani* ~ May You Be Well

Meditate with Indrani image

Indrani would love to share some of her meditations with you.  Her desire is to assist you in beginning a meditation practice, if you do not have one.   If you have a meditation practice, these weekly meditations will help you to work on living a brighter life.

Do you need permission to be well today?  Would you like to feel free from suffering, and feel at peace?  Today’s 1-minute meditation is called, “May You Be Well.”  Take time to forgive yourself, and know you are perfect.

“May You Be Well” Meditation Recording:

[powerpress]

*Meditate with Indrani* ~ Finding Your One True Love

Meditate with Indrani image

Indrani would love to share some of her meditations with you.  Her desire is to assist you in beginning a meditation practice, if you do not have one.   If you have a meditation practice, these weekly meditations will help you to work on living a brighter life.

Are you looking for your one true love?  Or maybe you need a way to renew the love you have with your current partner.  Today’s 10-minute meditation is called, “Finding Your One True Love.”  This is a meditation that will enable you to be in a space to draw in the love and qualities you would like to attract with your true love.

As you meditate, allow yourself to imagine the qualities you want to attract in your one true love.  Identify the qualities …. Is it kindness? Funny? Intelligent? Someone who respects nature?  Now imagine FEELING the joy and happiness as you surround yourself with your true love.  You are becoming the essence of all you wish to attract in your life.  Listen below, and let us know if this helped.

“Finding Your One True Love” Meditation Recording

[powerpress]

 

Meditate with Indrani – *Being Present*

Meditate with Indrani image

Indrani would love to share some of her meditations with you, so keep an eye on the ILF blog for our ongoing meditation series, which begins with today’s meditation.  Her desire is to assist the members of the Indrani’s Light Foundation family a way to begin a meditation practice, if you do not have one at this time.  If you have a meditation practice, these weekly meditations will help you to work on living a brighter life.

Today’s meditation is called, “Being Present.”  This is a meditation that will enable you to be present with whatever comes up.  Are you experiencing feelings that are stopping you in your tracks?

Indrani wants you to just NOTICE and be aware of your emotions and behavior, without judgment.  This can help you be PROactive in your life, and not REactive.  This is only a 3-minute meditation to get you present with your current emotions….. try it.  It’s only 3 minutes.

“Being Present” Meditation Recording

[powerpress]

 

Meditate with Indrani at *This Moment*

Meditate with Indrani Indrani would love to share some of her meditations with you, so keep an eye on the ILF blog for our ongoing meditation series, which begins with today’s meditation.  Her desire is to assist the members of the Indrani’s Light Foundation family a way to begin a meditation practice, if you do not have one at this time.  If you have a meditation practice, these weekly meditations will help you to work on living a brighter life.

Today’s meditation is called, “This Moment.”  It will help get you centered and grounded to whatever challenge or issue that is taking place in your life at this moment.  Looking to get freedom from the pressure that’s squeezing, choking, and stagnant feeling when you’re caught up in your head and can’t get free.

Give yourself permission to feel whatever you’re feeling.  Don’t ignore it …. don’t judge it. Indrani wants to share a trick that will help you not feel like you’re a hostage in this moment.

Think of a time in your life when you were happy, or elated beyond belief.  Was it a birth of a child?  A recent vacation?  Or perhaps a face of a friend who you haven’t seen in ages. What is the feeling you have right now as you visualize this memory?  Why do these visualizations work?  Indrani will explain in this short 10 minute meditation.

“This Moment” Meditation Recording

[powerpress]

Practice Gratitude

gratitudeThere are benefits of expressing gratitude as a daily practice.  Specifically, scientists have been able to verify that practicing gratitude on a daily basis positively impacts well-being and has a lasting effect.

How can you use gratitude to live a brighter life?

Do you write in a journal?  Whether you own a journal or not, we want you to write a note of gratitude to yourselves:  “What is it that you are most grateful for about yourself?”  Once you’ve written this out, what feelings come up for you?  Did you find it harder to write one for yourself, as oppose to writing one for someone else?

{A CHALLENGE}

If you are feeling a bit bold today, why don’t you pick up your smart phone right now and text a message to someone you have NOT been in touch for in awhile, and tell them something you are grateful for about THEM.  We’d love to hear the response you get from them, AND how it made you feel?

If you are needing more tools to help get you motivated to live a brighter life, please let us help you.  Our Live A Brighter Life online workshop series is completely FREE, and it can be anonymous if you need to attend privately.  It’s worth every minute!  Isn’t it time to THRIVE is life, and not just SURVIVE?

Join us this summer for our 6-week Live A Brighter Life Online weekly workshop series starting Thursday, June 30th.  It’s that easy.  Click here for all of the details and a way to sign up.

With Love & Light,

Team ILF