The DeLightFull Life

The DeLightFull Life

Delivers "soul food" for the feast of life!  

I've Moved

"I do."  My blog and website recently wed and you'll find them by clicking here.  

 

Sorry Typepad for abandoning you.  It's been a pleasure.  

 We are still working  out a few  details of the site so I"m posting my most recent post below just in case it doesn't make it onto my new blog by the time you get there.  

Welcome to My New Home

Welcome to my new site!  Hopefully, it feels similar to my previous site but more user friendly and up-to-date. 

I’m superbly excited to introduce my new line of Aromatherapy, called Capim Santo Alchemy.  Capim Santo is a Portuguese word that literally translates “holy grass” and in Brazil refers to lemongrass.  Lemongrass is a powerfully acting plant that cleanses the body of toxins and aides digestion and promotes supernatural insight.  

 

Aromatherapy, the original model of healing, was a lost healing modality for years beginning with the development of the modern medical model and conversion from natural healing products to the use of chemicals as substitutes.   Modern aromatherapy is derived from the research and models of the French, German and English.  There’s been a resurgence in aromatherapy in North America particularly because of the work of Dr. Gary Young, ND, founder of Young Living Essential Oils.  Thanks, Dr. Gary!  

 

Foundational to my coaching philosophy is that in the majority of cases,  our body, mind, spirit systems collectlvely know what is needed to live with a greater sense of well-being.   If we are in tune with nature and the spirit world we have access to amazing support available.  This requires keen supernatural awareness, which is why I have named my aromatherapy business, Capim Santo Alchemy.  

 

Click here to learn more about my personal involvement with essential oils and how I came to use them in my coaching practice.  

 

You’ll also notice a healing method called Resonance Repatterning which sounds far more intimidating than it is.  It is simply a method to shift and align your energy with what you want in life.  To read more click here. 

 

I have also explained my adoption mentoring program at greater length.  Click here to read more.  

 

The marvelous Crys Williams, Big Bright Bulb, (click here) is still making final adjustments to the site so please be patient because the finishing touches are not complete.  BUT I wanted to welcome you anyway and invite you to check it out ASAP.  

 

Welcome.  Please have a look around my new site.  Feel free to contact me (dana@danafrost.com) with any questions,  insights, errors, or applause.  All welcome.   I’d love to hear from you.  Oh, yes, this is my very first post in WordPress so I’m still learning the ropes like, I wasn’t quite sure how to provide the “click here” to email me.  Sorry about that.  

 

Virtual blessings and love all around!  

 

Aromatherapy tip:  A few drops of therapeutic grade essential oil in your purified water will shift your energy to resonate with the resonance of the oil.  Need calm, add clary sage or lavender, need energy, add a citrus or ginger, need focus, add lavender or citrus, need balance, add ylang ylang, need connection to spirit, add frankincense.   

 

If you like the Aromatherapy tip, follow me on Twitter, dana_frost, or this blog feed and you’ll get many more aromatherapy tips in the days, weeks and months to come.  Everything I’ve been learning over the past five years is on it’s way to my peeps!

 

 

 

The Power of One

"I have one life to live."  

This morning in the shower the thought came out of thin air and felt extraordinarily personal.  

Sure, it's a slogan.

Heard often enough for it to have lost it's edge. 

But today,

Yes, today.

It was mine.  

And it hit me deep in my belly.  

Mine to taste, gargle, swallow, digest. 

Lathering my hair I asked myself these questions.  

"How then shall I live?"  

"Are my decisions reflective of the life I want to live should my life be shortened?"

"What am I no longer willing to live with?

"What am I no longer willing to live without?"

Partial relief.

Partial sigh. 

Attempting to discover from where these thoughts came, I rewinded a few days.  

I had just returned from another family international adventure.  This time to Panama.  Travel is what we do really well as a family.  

We can rally in an airport like nobody's business.  

Take Friday for example.  

Our day began at 6am at Yandup Lodge in the San Blas Islands, a 2 star resort owned and operated by the Kuna (natives of Panama) people.  

We were awake to catch our flight scheduled to leave at 6:50am to Panama City

From this tarmac. 

 

One hour passed, no airplane in sight.

Two hours passed and no airplane in sight.

A few minor details.

In this spectacular island archepelago of the Kuna People, there is electricty, solar powered with limited use.

There's no cell service although there is one island phone, not at the resort, rather in the center of the neighbor island where the Kuna people live.

Suffice it to say, it's just not easy to get information about a flight that doesn't arrive as the hours s l o w l y pass.  

There's no "check-in."   A pilot arrives with a piece of paper and if your name is on it, you're on the flight.  

Three hours pass and we hear a plane, only it's a one engine private plane with two doctors visiting the village.  

Four hours passed and no plane.

We passed the time by watching the Kuna people travel back and forth on the bridge from their island to the mainland where the school, crops, air strip and cementary are located.    We also get to know the four other passengers.  One birding couple from NYC and one young British couple. 

Seven hours later our plane arrives.

No melt downs by the kids.  Take us on the road and we are at our best.  

You can see the plane and our co-passengers in this photo.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One hour later and we arrive at the domestic airport and rush via taxi headed to the international airport.  

Our sights set on eating (we haven't really eaten since dinner the night before), buying reading material for the flight home and freshening up.   Did I describe the bathroom at the airstrip where we spent the day?   Detached toilet bowl that didn't flush, a door that had to be held shut unless locked which it remained most of the time we were there,  a sink that dripped small bits of water into a little plastic container.   

We make it to the Copa Airlines check-in but 

There's a problem.

When asked for Bruno and Esther's green cards (they're our adopted Brazilian children) we produce the expired temporary cards and are told they cannot board the flight.  

My husband and I both travel a lot.  Due to our familiarity, we probably do not pay attention to the details as someone less frequently traveled might. 

Long story longer.

Two and a half hours later we're on the flight home after persistent negotiation.  

Not one meltdown and we haven't had water or eaten anything substantial in nearly 24 hours. 

I interrupted this post with my recent travel story because it's a reflection of choices we've made as a family to spend a large portion of our resources on traveling.  Traveling bonds us together.  It's something we recognize we do well as a family and it creates eternal memories.  Every person in the family likes it.

I hear people talk about a bucket list or a list of  things to do during retirement or when the kids are grown and educated and what if, just what if...your life is shortened and there's no next year or five years or retirement, whatever the hell retirement is anyway.  I don't believe in retirement for myself until the moment I no longer have breath.  

If I have one life to live...

I honor the privileged life I've lived with gratitude and generousity. 

I dispense endless amounts of love and hope into the world.   

I choose relationships over power and being right. 

I take advantage of each day by being a blessing to the people I encounter.  

I express my love daily to my children and my husband. 

I capture opportunities to spend time with my family and friends.

I fully express the talents I've been given by continuing to grow my coaching practice and having fun with it.

I choose to discover the story of love in every challenging situation.  

I release attitudes that do not support what I want in life.

In life, 99% of the time, it's  attitude and perspective that need adjustment.  

 

 

International Day of the Woman

Dear Woman, 

These things cannot wait.  

Your soul's desires.  

Physical health.  Your physical body allows you to have our earthly experience.  It's your vessel for good.  It needs check ups, maintenance care, healthy fuel and regular movement.  Tenderly care for the physica body you've been give because it's sole purpose is to serve your mission.  If you don't pay attention to it, one day, it will demand your attention.    

Fears.  When we face our fears, we realize they are illusions and then we are truly free. 

Anger, it's simply sending us a message that we need boundaries.  

Joy.  

Dreams.

Relationships that make you smile and lighten your heart. 

Discovering what deLights your soul and adding them into your life in abundance.

Your heart's desires.  Don't be afraid to look inside and ask, "what do I really want?"

Loving yourself so that your love cup is so full, it overflows to others.  The christian bible actually teaches us to love others as we love ourselves.  Until we love ourselves well, our love for others is lacking,  

Decisions to place boundaries around jobs, co-dependent relationships or situations that feel abusive or violent in any way.  Just say, "no" to people who make you feel less than.  

Saying good-bye to places and people where there is an absence of love. 

 

These things can wait.

 

Gossip.  

Your children's extra-curricular activities and demands.  Let's break it down, they really only need our love and security.  

Dirty dishes and laundry.

Demands on your time from other people.

The pursuit of $ as the driving force in life.  $ may make life easier but it's not the $ that makes a person happy.   I know happy and unhappy people.  Some are rich, some are poor on both sides of the equation.  

The pursuit of physical beauty.   You are so much more than your physical appearance.  Trust me, I'm all into beauty.  But if pursuing it, especially as we age, becomes more important than the real person who resides within you, it can wait.  

Perfection. 

Complaining.  It's far over rated and a major drag on your energy.  

Judgement.  Of yourself or others.  Trust me, leave it behind and your spirit will soar and you will see beauty and love everywhere you gaze.

 

I'd love to hear what's on your "can wait" and "cannot wait" lists.  I invite your replies in the comments.  

 

Sending a well-spring of love to all my female besties near and far.  

 

 

Revolution of Radical Self Care

You’re so worth it!  

 

A retreat.

A break from routine, sans responsibility.

Unwind.

Detox.

Smoothing of the rough edges.

Reflection.

Dreaming.

Just “BE-ing.”  

FOB (Flat on Back or side or stomach) translated means you place your body in the hands of healers and allow them to “help” you get the “issues out of your tissues*.” 

 

Several years ago I learned a valuable lesson about self care during a particularly challenging time in my life.  

 

During a doctor’s visit whilst in a puddle of tears, I shared my desperation, fatigue and overwhelm.  

 

Kindly and gently she responded to my plea for anti-depressants by calming explaining I didn’t need anti-depressants, I needed a vacation.  

 

She was right.  

 

I’m so glad I lived in Brazil and not the US for that particular appointment.

 

Honestly, it took what felt like a leap off a very steep cliff to pull myself away from my family for no other reason than to rest, rejuvenate and BE.  

 

But, I managed and I’ve never looked back.

 

Thus begun my practice of what I called my “twenty-fours.”   On my “twenty-fours,” which were literally twenty-four-hour periods (gotta start somewhere), I tucked myself away at the beach or a hotel once a month and followed my muse.  I read, rested, prayed, played, wrote, meditated, ate, watched movies, walked on the beach, and went to museums.  Each was an adventure of it’s own.

 

 

My “twenty-fours” have evolved into at least five days away several times a year.  

 

Did I mention, those aren’t working times away or holidays with my husband? 

 

I go alone, sometimes with friends if the boundaries are safe and clear.  

 

I just returned from a retreat last week.  

 

By jumping off the cliff eight years ago, I created my personal REVOLUTION of Radical self care. 

 

I’ll let you in on a little secret.

 

The benefits for me are endless. 

 

And everyone benefits from my time away. 

 

My kids experience a happier more centered mom.  

 

They grow their independence and experience their personal capabilities. 

 

My husband happily sends me away because he likes, ok LOVES, what he gets when I come home!   

 

Ladies, when you get the “issues out of your tissues” your body relaxes and your libido increases, your outlook enhances, the little nuisances become trivial 

 

And 

 

You Let Go of the need to control and command and instead become a willing recipient of life.  

 

Your love cup gets filled.

 

Setting aside the tyranny of the urgent, there’s time to peer  underneath the surface of life.  

 

You get to just BE.

 

Depending upon your age, you may or may not remember  “back in the day” when neighbors spent hours on the front porch or back yard, just hanging out and enjoyed impromptu gatherings.  On my block, seriously, it take us months to coordinate dates and, forget impromptus, no one is around the house.  

 

Due to the hectic lifestyle called “modern life”  I believe now more than ever, each one of us are called to a personal REVOLUTION of RADICAL SELF CARE that includes retreats.  

 

Honestly, it’s been a revolutionary practice in my life.  

 

I no longer push myself like I once did. 

 

I notice, observe and listen to my body, my intuition and my spirit and they just don’t let me push.  

 

I’m more relaxed, accepting, peaceful and authentic.  

 

We can definitely experience these practices while at home in dedicated moments, minutes and hours.  However, getting away is a completely different experience because the physical and emotional distance allows us to let go of the daily routine and sink into nothingness with greater ease.  

 

Once the deliciousness of retreat lands on your taste buds, girl, you’ll be counting the days until the next one and wonder how you survived this long without it. 

 

You are invited to Mii Amo a retreat I’ll be hosting next January.  However, please don’t wait that long to begin your personal revolution of radical self care.  If you’re interested, click here to contact me.

 

*I can’t take credit for the clever “issues in your tissues” phrase.  We noticed it on a sign while driving into Sedona.  

 

Tranquility beachside

Calm
Peaceful
Gentle
Crisp
Bright
Clear

Have a very merry Christmas Eve.

The Gift of Nature

Surviving my Christmas Chaos by daily visits lakeside.

Yesterday I snapped a few photos.

Even on the most gray day, I stumbled upon color.  Seeing the bright green moss this time of the year surprised me, normally it would have been frozen underneath a blanket of snow or ice.  

Nature filters and clarifies my stream of consciousness just as these stones on the shore are washed up one by one, distinct and refined.

A daily practice I whole heartedly recommend is to carve out time for a nature visit regardless of the weather forecast.   It won't disappoint.  

My apologies because my heart to blog daily was much bigger than the daily reality of my Christmas Chaos.

Big hearted blessings!
Dana

 

 

 

Countdown to Christmas in Corpse Pose

Flat on back

Weight of my body fully supported by the earth

Arms resting alongside my body

Face relaxed

Eyes gently closed

Stillness

Surrender my expanding "to do" list  

For a few  moments

Silence

No movement

No grip  

I'm in Savasana or "Corpse pose,"  

Savasana is the gift that keeps on giving.  

The counter balance for my Christmas Chaos.  

It's the doing nothing that makes my crazy doing enJOYable.   

My friend and colleague, Nona Jordan, The Business Yogini, wrote a beautiful post about the benefits of Savasana.   

Click here to read The Business Yogini's post.  

 Surrender, Stillness and Silence are the gentle giant tools that powerfully move us through chaos regardless of the situation.

Holiday chaos

Relationship chaos

Career chaos

Health chaos

Practicing Surrender, Stillness and Silence we discover the peace that surpasses understanding,

Our voice

Our way forward

I'll be entering Savasana everyday until Christmas.

Will you join me?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Chaos

Seven days until Christmas.  

I have more shopping to do

More baking

Wrapping

and

Moments to celebrate with family and friends.  

Every year I slide into Christmas with my hair on fire.  

I've tried to be more organized about the whole affair

until I realized

I like the chaos I create around Christmas.

I am simply not motivated to do anything for Christmas before December.  

I marvel at friends who complete their shopping, wrapping and decorating in November.  

That doesn't feel like Christmas to me.  

My desire is to move through my Christmas chaos with a healthy body, mind and spirit.  

The truth is I do have a defined method of taking care of myself during my Christmas chaos.  

I have five daily practices:

1. Reflective, prayerful and meditative time in the wee hours of the morning.   

2. Daily writing to declutter my brain and make space for creativity.  If you're familiar with Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way, the practice is called "Morning Pages."

3. Water, water and more water...all day long.  Water hydrates every function of your physical body.   If you're thirsty, you're already dehydrated which means your body is functioning in deprevation.  Never underestimate the power of fresh water to awaken your senses, enliven your body and shift your energy.  

4. I do at least one thing to support my physical body.  My practices of choice for this season include yoga, Dailey Method or  Jin Shin Jyutsu.  This morning I only spent five minutes on #4.   

5. I intentionally return to my breath regularly and ask myself, "Is my breath deep, regular, quiet and rhythmic?"  I make adjustments to my breath as needed.  These four adjectives are the atributes of a healthy daily breath.  

These simple practices are easily implemented in as few or as many moments available. 

They center

ground 

and balance 

me 

in the midst of

my Christmas chaos.

This morning while holding my safety energy lock #1,  I was nudged to share with the readers of my blog (who are possibly parched from my lack of posts)  daily suggestions for coping with Christmas chaos starting today until December 25.

Today's tip is to hold Safety Energy Lock #1 (SEL 1), Jin Shin Jyutsu practice.

SEL #1 is called The Prime Mover.   SEL 1 is located on the inside of each knee, right at the bulge, where the thigh and shinbone connect.  It unifies the descending energy (which travels down the front of the body) with the ascending energy (which flows up the back) and harmonizes us from head to toe.  The Prime Mover connects extreme heights with extreme lows.  Sounds a bit like the holidays, eh?  SEL helps abdominal stress (hoilday eating and drinking?) and headaches.  It also promotes deeper and easier breathing.   Simply place your palms on  your respective knees in the area indicated above.  Breath deeply and relax into the gentle hold of SEL #1 for as many minutes until you feel completely relaxed.  You may feel a shift in your breathing pattern.  This morning holding SEL #1 I felt a sweeping calm move through my body.  

 

What do the days leading up to Christmas feel and look like in your life?

Please do share your tips for coping with Christmas chaos.  

 

Prayer: Holy Spirit, I inhale the peace you offer in the midst of chaos.  Penetrate my heart, body and thoughts with the light of your love and tenderness.   

Jesus: lover of people, pursuer of justice, caretaker of the underdog.  

 

 

 

 

I Have a Dream

 

"Without vision, people entangle themselves in lesser dreams." 

-Bill Hybels, founder of Willow Creek Church and Association.  

Profound and potentially indicting.  

A lesser dream...

Parked in neutral.

Devoid of courage.

Avoidance of fear.

Safety is the illusion.

Possibilities beyond reach.

Bland.

Predictable.

A lesser dream is

Totally and completely unnecessary.

Yesterday our nation celebrated the inauguration of Dr. Martin Luther King's monument.

A man with a dream.

 

I have a dream.

I have a practice of writing down wildly improbable dreams regularly.

I'll let you in on one.  Sharing it feels vulnerable and risky but that's ok.  

I want to have a remarkably successful radio show that is syndicated and income earning.  A radio show that sets callers free by shedding light and truth on their suffering and unweaves the web  entangled to lesser dreams.  

I started my family twenty plus years ago with a vision for today, twenty plus years later.   I can honestly say I'm beginning to taste the fruition of my dreams as I watch my oldest daughter spread her wings and we are experiencing a new relationship together.  

I had a dream to have a dynamic marriage.

Livin' it.  

My choice of a spouse (action step) was the first factor in determining where I am today in my marriage.  

I (we) chose well.  

Breaking away from lesser dreams requires a connection to a vision, the creation of a dream followed by daily actions that make the dream come true.

If you're entangled in lesser dreams, your gut pinged when you began reading my post.

Don't sweat it.

It's NEVER too late unless you believe it's too late. 

Put pen to paper and begin fleshing out your vision, dreams and action steps. 

What do you really want?

Just to be clear, I'm not talking about a couture handbag and skinny jeans, although they're nice accessories! 

I'm talking about how you show up in the world and make a mark with a circle and a dot!  

"What does your life want to do with you?"  Poignantly explained by Parker Palmer in his book,

"Let Your Life Speak."   

A lesser dream life is the road well traveled but unsatisfying.

Real dreams keep you on the edge of your seat and

Feel just out of reach.

They're Fun, Fear-FiLLing and Fulfilling

Will you dream with me?

I had a date night with my youngest daughter on Saturday and we watched, "Dolphin Tale."

A tender and inspiring story.  

Watch this music video of the  closing song, "Safe." 

Click here. Safe by Westlife.

"How you gonna' love, how you gonna' feel, how you gonna' live your life like the dreams you have are real?" 

Duality

I am capable of the most amazing sacrificial love and I am also capable of hurting another soul.
You are too.
An inconvenient truth only if the coward's voice is stronger than the warrior's voice.

Remember my post "What You Focus on Expands?"
When we focus and act upon our potential for love, we enter the Warrior's dance and become the heroes of our own stories.
It's beautiful.
We have clarity and strategy about how to expand our voice of love in the world.
We become a mighty force of light and love with skin on.
The world needs love that can be seen and felt.
When we fail to forgive ourselves for wrongs committed, the light we are intended to shine dwindles at best and burns out at worse.
That's sad.
We trade the warrior's dance for a shadow of who we were meant to be.
Warrior's rescue and kill.

This duality exists in every human being.

It's what you do with that truth that matters.

I'm admiring a new movement I recently discovered...
"People of the Second Chance."
Google it.

I want to give myself and others all the chances required to become who we are each intended to become.

Writing on typepad for iPad...it's imperfect.
I'll update with links later.
Closing airplane door to Rome.