It isn’t happening yesterday, and it’s not tomorrow yet.

What is happening is doing so now, in this moment, in this present time.

Some event may have happened yesterday that is affecting this moment now. As a matter of fact, every event that happened yesterday does affect now. Every choice made, every word said, every thought, is having its effect on you in this moment.

Whatever you chose: from the food you ate to the quality of sleep you had last night, to whether you’ve been able to let go of stress and worries, and so on. You are reading this article now.

If you asked your body right now to give you a status update, what would it say?

Would you hear something along the lines of ‘Happy today, feeling good with pretty toes!’, or perhaps more like ‘Tired sluggish blah want some more coffee or a nap’? If you haven’t given this matter much thought recently, or have the idea that it isn’t up to you, that it’s out of your control, you may want to sit up and take notice of your body.

Your body’s attitude and energy at any given moment has a lot to do with you, and you have enormous power to help and heal your own body.

Do you see your body as a ‘frienemy’?

You may have believed a lie about your body. Perhaps the lie is that it’s flawed, too thin, too fat, or just not right somehow. You may not fit into the perfect ideal presented constantly in our culture, everywhere you look. You may believe that your body is wrong, and so you fight with it, every day.

You may believe that the spirit is superior to the body, and so you leave your body to fend for itself, without listening to its cries for attention.

Did you know that beauty is your birthright?

You live on a gorgeous planet, after all. You are fully equipped to experience the earth's beauty through all of your senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch. The earth is only too happy to indulge you; this earth is a cornucopia of delights, a paradise.

If you’re in the midst of a busy day, hitting stress and challenges along the way, getting your daily dose of beauty can make all the difference in how you feel. You can take a few minutes to slow down and look, listen, taste, touch, and smell. An added bonus is that your senses will remind you that you are a human being, with a body.

A student of mine asked me some specific questions about change and how to handle it, and inspired me to write this.

Here’s my take on change and growth, and how to navigate what sometimes feels like a bumpy ride.

It all begins with you: You want to change, and you decide to make positive changes in your life. Perhaps you’ve done this before, maybe many times. Some of the changes you’ve gone through in your life came about as a result of you choosing to change, and some of them might have seemed as if they just ‘happened’ to you. Either way, change is upon you.

Is there anything better than feeling well, happy, and enthusiastic about your life?

Is good health worth more to you than money, power, or prestige? Financial wealth doesn’t guarantee you’ll be healthy, and it’s difficult to enjoy it freely if you’re not feeling well, isn’t it?

It all begins with energy, spirit. Good health, illness, enthusiasm, joy, happiness, depression – all begin with energy.

The choice you make in any situation will depend on the choices you see before you.

Yes, you do have free will, and are free to choose what you want, but what choices are on your menu? Sometimes you might believe you have no choice because none of the available options you see appeal to you. Remember that not choosing is also a choice.

What about the choices you can’t see?

Do you pay attention to how fast you are expected to move through your daily life?

Depending on what is happening in your life right now, you are faced with demands to get more done in your day, every day. This means you're expected to move faster, never slow down or stop moving, and produce produce produce.

You are the one making some of those demands on yourself, and it could be that you're used to doing things this way. It is a positive thing to get a lot of stuff done, and some days it's the right answer.

Try this: get dressed up and go call on your inner demons, the unwanted parts of you.

Invite them for tea and cookies, gluten free if you prefer. Say hello to your unwanted bits when they arrive, and ask them to sit down and join you for a friendly chat.

Be nice, especially if you’ve gone out of your way to avoid them in the past. You might not have felt like being seen with them before.

Give it a try now, it’s worth it. They have some useful things to tell you, so try to listen without judgment.

The time you spend giving to and healing yourself, is time well invested.

Sometimes I allow myself to get so busy with my work and activities that I run myself down. I’ve been primarily self employed for most of my adult years, and in my ever present enthusiasm to create my latest thing, I shirk my responsibilities to my body from time to time.

I know when I’ve gone just a bit too far over the line, because I hit one of those days where my body basically tells me, “no, you are not doing a thing today”. I’ve learned over the years that I have to listen to what my body needs if I expect to have enough energy to show up tomorrow and do my work, so on those days I do my best to give my body the rest it wants.