May this poem deepen your conscious awareness of your inner experiences and brings kindness and compassion to yourself and your world. 

This moment

This moment 

There is such peace 

There is such joy

There is such excitement 

There is such love 

This moment 

There is such sorrow

There is such anger 

There is such rage 

There is such resentment 

This moment…

I could be the glorious and skillful actor of each experience of this moment

Or better yet

I could be the joyous and mindful observer of these experiences inside me

Observing from the place where the ultimate true being resides 

Bowing each experience of this moment with full acceptance and gratitude 

I now arrived

— Sunyata Khin

Schedule a free 30-minute introductory zoom meeting to learn more about spiritual coaching: https://calendly.com/empowerment-coaching-serives/introductory-meeting

When I look back on the empowering life events, beautiful relationships, and most profound breakthrough moments with my clients I have experienced, the element of 5G was always within me. I could even say that 5G has contributed to most (if not all) of my life’s successes and continues to allow me to live a joyful and empowered life. It also helps me deal with day-to-day life challenges with ease and poise. 

So, what is 5G and why is it essential to embody 5G in your life?

5G stands for Groundedness, Gratitude, Generosity, Grace, and Genuineness. 

 Groundedness

As a regular meditator, I learned the incredible power and benefit of being grounded many years ago. You feel most grounded when you are in touch with your physical body: meaning you consciously and purposefully inhabit your body instead of constantly staying in your head or your mind. We often experience mental states like fear, depression, and anxiety when we are trapped or lost in our thoughts a.k.a in our head. 

I invite you to try it now for a few seconds if you feel comfortable doing so. Try feeling or sensing any part or parts of your body… maybe your hands, feet, or the whole body and stay there for a few seconds or however long you can. That is the feeling of groundedness. You may or may not be able to feel and stay in the body initially, but with practice, you can get there. And it’s worth practicing. In addition to helping with the states like fear, depression, and anxiety, groundedness gives us a sense of worthiness and self-confidence. When you are grounded, you are aware that you can and you deserve to take up the space in the world just like everybody else— both literally and figuratively — no matter who you are and what your status in life is. Feeling and staying in touch with the physical body is a way of acknowledging your physical and mental space on this earth like everyone else. Imagine feeling that sense of equality and security. 

How would your interactions with yourself and others be different if you connect with them from that place of groundedness? By staying grounded, meaning staying in touch with your body throughout the day, you are giving out the energy vibration of a secure and confident person to yourself and the world around you without feeling superior or inferior to others. 

Gratitude

We all have a conceptual understanding of what gratitude is. There are also numerous scientific research studies on how practicing gratitude can benefit our physical and mental wellbeing. In a simple definition, gratitude is the expression of one’s appreciation towards someone or something that is helping you. I invite you to take a minute to list a few things you feel grateful for. You will find that most of the list includes pleasant experiences, things, and people. But what about those people and situations we find difficult to deal with? Can you find things to appreciate from them? In psychology, looking for positive aspects to appreciate from seemingly negative experiences is called “benefit finding.” The practice of “benefit finding” can not only empower you but can also make you more resilient. For example, I did not have a formal education during most of my teenage years, and because of that, I graduated from college much later than most people I know. I used to think of that as a negative experience. Through the process of “benefit finding,” I realized that this experience has made me an open-minded, open-hearted, and resourceful person today because I experienced less social conditioning (mostly due to not having a peer group to compare to during my childhood) and I had to figure out a lot of things in life myself. I believe we can get the full benefit of gratitude and feel more in control of our own life by recognizing people and situations we can appreciate in both positive and so-called “negative” situations. 

“Gratitude for the present moment and the fullness of life now is true prosperity.” — Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

Generosity

Being generous can be viewed mostly when we are giving material things to help others. In addition to helping others with money and material resources, I love practicing giving kindness by being generous with my thoughts and attention towards myself and others daily. This simple practice can transform your relationship with yourself and the people around you in such beautiful ways. 

Being generous with your thoughts

Try to remember a time when someone failed to meet your expectation. This person can be a friend or someone you are paying for the services or your partner or maybe even your child. What were your initial thoughts when you found out that this person did not act or say or deliver the way you expected? Some of them can be disappointing and frustrating thoughts. Some may even be judgemental thoughts. We also do this to ourselves when we make mistakes. Being generous with our thoughts is trying to think from a loving space when someone or yourself did not meet your expectations. Next time when you experience something that didn’t go the way you wanted, I invite you to be first aware of your thoughts and then, see if you can try to be more generous with them. 

Being generous with your attention

How many times during the day do you find yourself interacting with someone but you barely pay attention to what they are saying? We live in a fast-paced world with high-speed technologies that can shorten our attention span down to seconds. Being generous with your attention is when you are truly present with the person you are interacting with at the moment. You can also be generous with your attention to yourself by being aware of your thoughts and emotions. You can do this by quieting your mind through meditation or other mindfulness practices such as yoga and spending time in nature.

While it is wonderful to give money and material donations whenever possible, it is also important to show our kindness to ourselves and others (especially to our loved ones) through our generous thoughts and undivided attention daily.  

Grace

No matter how grounded, grateful, and generous you are, we sometimes encounter people and situations that seem impossible to be kind, patient, and calm. This is the time we need to be graceful the most. Being graceful is not reacting and saying things that might make you feel good at the time but feel awful later. One way to practice grace is to check in with yourself before you say or act or hit that send button when you are in that moment. Whatever you are thinking of saying, say it out loud in your mind or write it down on a piece of paper first. Then, try saying that again or rewriting what you just wrote with as many kind and polite words as you can. One of my favorite things to say whenever I meet someone who has a different perspective than I am is “I respect your viewpoint and I also respect my own viewpoint.” 

Genuineness

The most important and precious gift we can give to ourselves in life is to be true to ourselves. We suffer when we are not able to be fully who we are. To discover our true selves, it is crucial to question our values and beliefs from a place of loving curiosity. We sometimes pick up the values and beliefs of people around us and hold them like they are ours. Also, some of our old beliefs may not be true for us anymore. Ask yourself with loving curiosity “how did this belief come into my life and is this still true for me?” We can only be genuine with others when we are being true to ourselves. And we can only be true to ourselves when we know what our true values and beliefs are. 

“Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny.”

— Gandhi

Schedule a free 30-minute introductory zoom meeting with your life empowerment coach to learn more about how to incorporate the 5G in your own life: https://calendly.com/empowerment-coaching-serives/introductory-meeting

How to appreciate and feel empowered from your midyear journey

As we are midway through the year, I notice a settled sense of urgency or a mild form of anxiety within me when I find myself asking where I am at and how I am doing with my goals and things I want to accomplish for the year. Interestingly, my answers to these questions were all about how much more I need to do and how far I still am to get to the goals that I set at the beginning of the year. 

After a few days of mindfully monitoring these recurring thoughts of how much more work to do and how can I get to my goals faster, I suddenly realized that all my thoughts were on the future and things I haven’t achieved yet. None of the thoughts were about how much I have done so far and how wonderful my life is right now.

Then I asked myself why haven’t I looked at how far I’ve come as opposed to just only thinking about how far  I have to go. During the last five months, I’ve had many accomplishments, wonderful experiences, met lovely people, and learned many amazing subjects (especially on trauma and regulation) yet I find myself thinking I need to do more or go at a faster rate. No wonder I felt anxious and restless. 

In this fast-paced world, most of us find ourselves always moving towards something. We are always on the go both physically and mentally. Sometimes we even forget where and why we are going but going nonetheless. And sadly, we consciously or unconsciously judge ourselves that we are not moving fast enough. 

We rarely pause and reflect on the journey that got us this far. I believe appreciating and looking back on beautiful and empowering moments helps us recharge and gives us the fuel and power to continue moving with the full of energy, grace, joy, creativity, and compassion. 

When I think about pausing and appreciating, I hear the phrase “stop and smell the roses.” Although I understand the meaning of this phrase, I was having some difficulties with how to actually “Stop” and what are the metaphorical “Roses” I am trying to appreciate…

So I created an empowering process to  “stop and smell the roses.” This process can be used at any time you feel the need for empowerment or you notice restlessness in yourself especially when you think about your personal and professional goals. 

the exercise

The first step is to define what it means to “stop.” My definition of “stop” is giving myself a specific amount of dedicated time to pause, be present, contemplate, and reflect on my journey.

The next step is to create categories for the metaphorical roses. My beautiful, lush, and fragrant metaphorical roses are the celebrations (big and small), growth, compassion for myself and others, courageous moments, people in my life, and my level of consciousness or mindfulness. 

Remember, these categories are just for you to see so you can add anything you want to appreciate and celebrate without worrying about what people would say. For example, one of my big celebrations is becoming a volunteer certified crisis counselor to serve the victims of sexual abuse, domestic violence, and human trafficking. And one of the small and fun celebrations is doing 12 squads every time I’m waiting for my coffee, warm water in the microwave, and when I am making the afternoon matcha tea. Everyone has their own categories for their roses. You can create your own that empowers you. The key is not to be too concerned about what other people say and think about them. 

I then gave myself 20 minutes each day for a week to list each of my categories and simply appreciate and reflect on them. Some of the categories may have subcategories.  For example, for the category of people in my life, I created three subcategories: 1) people whose lives were enriched by my guidance, love, and support 2) people who uplifted me with their kindness, love, and support 3) people who helped me to be more compassionate and forgiving for their behaviors. I then wrote down the names of the people who fit under each of these subcategories. Surprisingly, some names showed up on all three! 

results

I was flooded with positive emotions such as joy and gratitude as well as the feeling of empowerment after doing this “stop and smell the roses” exercise. I was amazed and so proud of all the celebrations both big and small. I felt so much gratitude for all experiences and people in my life even the ones whose behavior has taught me to be more forgiving. Because these people gave me the opportunity to grow and deepen my compassion and empathy. I also experienced a great amount of empowerment while listing and appreciating courageous moments, especially the moments when I kindly and firmly set the emotional boundaries. I realized that I’ve achieved and grown a lot during the last five months. This realization has made me feel like I am on the right path and I Can achieve my goals. Most importantly, I realized that the pace I’m going is perfectly ok!  I noticed that I no longer have anxious thoughts and unsettling feelings and I am ready to continue toward my goals with full force.

why you should try this exercise

According to Psychology Today, cultivating the feeling of gratitude can be beneficial to both physical and mental health such as a healthier immune system, less stress, meaningful relationships, and better academic and professional performance. I hope this midyear check-in process of “stop and smell the roses” brings you a feeling of gratitude, wellbeing, and empowerment to continue on your journey. 

You want to create your own unique plan to feel a sense of well-being and empowerment?Schedule a free 30-minute introductory zoom meeting with your life empowerment coach here: https://calendly.com/empowerment-coaching-serives/introductory-meeting