This is how I felt when I recently came across the site- Mother Nature Network (MNN). I also discovered one of their writers  Jen Savadge who writes about green parenting, raising eco-friendly kids and she had this to say about Finding A Moment’s Peace

Check it out- they have loads of great information.

P.S. Haven’t been on vacation this summer? Need a virtual one? Check out Mother Nature Network’s slide show 8 of the Greatest Eco-Friendly Beaches

Research shows that to make any change it takes 28 days to create a new behavior or habit.I am providing you with 28 days of daily inspirations to create more peace, joy and well-being in your life.

Sign up here and each day you will receive a daily inspiration. Let’s make this change together!

Read my recent post on Weil Baby Simply Beautiful: Natural Cleaning Alternatives to Household Chemicals

Here are my best five tips:

How to Clean Naturally–Get Back to Basics

1. Microfiber cloth. This fantastic little cloth gets the great all- around award for cleaning any surface and it just needs to be dampened with water. When it’s dirty toss it into your washing machine.
2. Vinegar. Equal parts vinegar and water become your spray bottle of disinfectant. Add a few drops of your essential oil (lavender, lemongrass or rosemary are great choices) and you have a disinfectant that smells good, too.
3. Baking Soda. Becomes your paste cleaner when sprinkled on a half of lemon. Smells fantastic and cleans even lime scale.
4. Lemon. use it with olive oil for furniture polish, or take a wedge and whiz around your sink to keep it squeaky clean.
5. Essential Oil. I use essential oils for many purposes besides cleaning, however they work well as cleaners and leave that lovely clean scent behind.

If you prefer to have some help with “getting it all together” check out this Eco-Me Cleaning Kit

Choose You is a movement created by the American Cancer Society that encourages women to put their own health first in the fight against cancer. The movement challenges women to make healthier choices, and supports them in their commitment to eat right, get active, quit smoking and get regular health checks.

The Choose You Movement shines a light on a hidden issue: that while one in three American women will get cancer in her lifetime, about 50% of cancer deaths could be prevented if more emphasis were placed on early detection and healthier lifestyles including maintaining a healthy weight through diet and exercise and avoiding tobacco.

In the constant struggle between family, work and self, we know how difficult it is to focus on oneself. To help change this, American Cancer Society has developed the Choose You Commitment. Powered by stickK, this online program provides tools and support to enable women to commit to and achieve their personal health and wellness goals. Research shows that individuals who receive support in making positive choices are up to 5 times more likely to maintain healthy habits. The Choose You Commitment provides this support.

By making a Choose You Commitment today, you are helping to change the focus and make personal health a priority — and helping in the fight against cancer.

What a fabulous campaign, and a subject that of course as many of my readers know, I am completely passionate about! I do hope you can take a minute to

read my  interview Finding A Moment’s Peace and my post Creating Calm Amidst Chaos

and follow along with the uplifting message of inspiration of this campaign to TAKE CARE OF YOU!

If we choose to notice and acknowledge these serendipitous occurrences—it taps us into a whole new kind of tracking device, a tool to keep life on course. The development of events beyond my control can feel like magic. One day the famous rock group, the Beatles song “Let it Be” plays on my car radio, then in the grocery store, and again in an office building’s elevator—it’s too coincidental to ignore. It feels magical. I listen to the message.

An animal randomly crosses my path. It’s easy to dismiss a butterfly landing on my shoulder or a hummingbird “humming” near my park bench as nothing. And, yet, it’s equally easy to take notice.Why not take the experience of this animal coming into my awareness and use it?

I look up the animal’s symbolic meaning. Both of these creatures’ symbolism rings true—a butterfly represents spirituality and a humming bird represents joy. It feels like I am hand delivered a note of inspiration, hope, and comfort. Can you think of a song, an animal, or any type of serendipitous event that’s been in your life lately?

Recognizing these events and ensuring they are special to you is one more way you have power to create your own joy. Just keep it simple and fun, and perhaps just allow yourself to be open to the possibility that a signpost may be planted right next to you.

1. Think about it.What do you like to do? What did you used to do when you were younger, even a child, to feel better?
2. Where do you spend your free time? Do you spend time doing things you love to do?
3. How do you feel? When you do something you enjoy how does it make you feel? Do you lose yourself or lose track of time?

Don Miguel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements

I encourage you to recognize your innate ability to notice the present moment, live it to the fullest, and when your awareness rests here—be alive and taste it. You have the ability to place your own order everyday—and peace is always a choice on the menu.

As Atticus tells Scout in the classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

The people in your life right now, especially those you wish would just go away,can serve as hidden gems of self-awareness. How? Perhaps, we subconsciously attract into our lives the parts of us that we dislike the most.

What if, unknowingly, we do this so we can experience and work on the part we don’t readily acknowledge exists in us? What if subconsciously, you actually created and perpetuate the relationship drama, the grumpy child, the annoying boss, or the competitive friend?

What if these people are presently in your life to help you understand your own potential equally negative or positive qualities? When we own up to our own traits, we move into a place of true compassion and understanding of our self and others and in our humility, we come into power.

“Aspects that are hidden from ourselves have a powerful influence on our present reality. They are always trying to get our attention in order to be accepted and integrated into our whole self.”

Debbie Ford, author of The Dark Side of the Light Chasers

Learning to create “Sunday morning” feelings gave me a tool to help myself. With practice, it becomes quite easy to re-create something that feels great—a relaxing body sensation, a wonderful sound, or a laugh-out loud memory. In doing this, I raise my vibration in attracting other positive vibes, people and situations in my life—with the bonus of feeling good in my self. Here is one  of my favorites—can you “feel” this?:

Sunbathing

One of my favorite childhood memories is one of climbing out of a swimming pool. Cold, shivering and dripping wet I rest my slender young body onto the warm cement edge of the pool. I can still feel the heat of the concrete underneath me, the bright sun above me, sandwiching me in a blanket of bliss.

Turn back the clock and practice “playing” in your imagination. Create a feeling.You are the producer.You have endless resources of experience at your disposal. Generate a ‘real life’ fantastic sensation.Try it now.