OCTOBER TREATS!

The Year of the Dragon — A Time for Change!

October is one of my favorite months of the year.  I enjoy the fresh, crispness in the air, the first hint of Fall color in the leaves, and, of course, the spooky to ridiculous decorations being set out in preparation for Halloween (it’s not just for little kids, you know — some of us big kids enjoy it, also).

For me, this October has the added bonus of observing the changes around my new beach home.  Above the ocean, the sun has shifted its setting point.  Daily it inches toward a more Southerly direction, changing the way the light bathes the beach and my home.  By December it will appear to drop smack dab in the perfect center of the sea.  The beach itself is less frequented by droves of people, though it is still quite busy.  Fall festivals, like the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair, are sprinkled throughout the month.  I’m feeling myself craving the holiday flavors of pumpkin, cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg.

I suppose the biggest changes are the new opportunities arising in my life.  Fall always seems to bring a wave of new things to me.  Work with my clients is reaching a new height with many surprising breakthroughs.  New television opportunities are reaching out to me.  Due to a dear friend, my book is about to be introduced as part of the curriculum into a high school advanced placement psychology class.  All of these things are thrilling to me.  But, wait!  There’s more.  Not all of the changes are external.  Something new is bubbling up from inside of me.  I am considering new possibilities and options in my life.  As my environment has opened up, my mind is stretching into previously unexplored territories.  Where I go and what happens next, I do not know.

So as the brisk, cooler air outside mixes with the goose-pimply inner vibration I feel, I’m throwing my arms wide open in trust for what life brings.  I hope you will join me in welcoming the newness that is October, Autumn, and the changing of the known into the unexpected.

Focusing more on the treat than the trick,

Mark

www.MarkEdgarStephens.com

www.WhoAreYouChoosingToBe.com

BEEN TRAVELIN’

I was away from my blog for a week.  I’ve been fielding some opportunities about which I am very enthusiastic.  I don’t know where they are leading, but I am walking through doors that open up.

Every so often as I am playing with possibilities, my mind plays a trick in which I attempt to work everything out before events have happened.  My mind goes traveling into scenarios that may or may not be relevant.  I’m doing my best to simply surrender my mind, my thoughts, and my future to what life is offering up.  I’m not second guessing and attempting to control events.  I find it much easier to travel light in the world without too many expectations or too many plans that may or may not happen.  It makes the traveling more enjoyable.  Where to next?  Don’t know, but smiling at what is unfolding.

Traveling light,

Mark

www.MarkEdgarStephens.com

www.WhoAreYouChoosingToBe.com

NOT MOVING, NOT BREATHING … NOT AN OPTION!

If you don’t move about or breathe deeply, most likely you are not alive.  Yes, brilliant observation, I know, but I mean this both figuratively and literally.  I have reached a point in my life where if I don’t breathe deeply and move my body in some significant way everyday, I don’t feel fully awake and alive.  There is a reason for this.  Deep breathing (a common result of moving my body) brings oxygen into my system and stimulates my mind and body.  Deep breathing moves toxins out of my system.  Movement allows me to see and feel things from a variety of perspectives.  I can’t sit at my desk all day or stay on my computer all day.  I have to move.  I have to breathe.

Here’s the bottom line:  If I move and breathe deeply, I feel good.  If I don’t move and breathe deeply, then I don’t feel good.  It’s a choice.  Getting off of the computer now to move and breathe a bit more deeply.

Moving and Breathing Deeply,

Mark

www.MarkEdgarStephens.com

www.WhoAreYouChoosingToBe.com

www.NexAim.com

OOPS! I DID IT AGAIN!

Okay, so while most people were at home watching the “Britney” episode of Glee (if you didn’t, you know you wanted to), I decided to venture out to another one of my “unusual” experimental experiences (Oops!  I did it again!).

If you’ve been reading my blog regularly, you know that I challenged myself some months back to do some things I’ve never before tried.  That challenge led me to a thing called “Contact Improv Dance.”  From that experience, I was invited to a weekly gathering titled, “Prayers in Motion.”  In essence, it is a moving meditation.  About forty people of different ages, ethnicities, and movement styles showed up at a big, open yoga studio and while inviting rhythmic music plays, each person moves to his or her own inner drum.  I loved it!

In this gathering, the music is designed to assist the group in moving (literally) through a variety of rhythms and personal feelings.  Each person’s journey is their own.  You can go as complex or as simple with the movement experience as you choose.  From young, agile women who obviously have no problem whatsoever with movement to older men who shuffle about freeing themselves from their aged bodies, the whole room journeys together into both a personal and shared experience.  I was surprised at the feelings and the connections and the thoughts that came up for me as I experienced this group for the first time.  I think I will go again (and maybe again).

If you want to see a bit of what I am speaking about (though I suggest experiencing it for yourself), you can visit, www.spiritweaves.com

What’s next?!?

Mark

www.MarkEdgarStephens.com

www.WhoAreYouChoosingToBe.com

www.NexAim.com

GOODBYE SUMMER … HELLO AUTUMN!

While the rest of the world was experiencing warmer than usual summer temperatures, here in Southern California we truly only had about 2 weeks that felt like real summer (temperatures above 85 degrees).  Growing up in Central Florida, I like a good, hot summer.  “Aha!” I thought.  Perhaps this mild summer here in SoCal means an extended period of summer.  Nope.  It’s now two days past Labor Day and both yesterday and today have been overcast with drizzle.  The current temperature at 9:30 am is still in the 60’s.  Though the calendar does not yet say so, it is officially Autumn.

I love the holidays that this time of the year brings and I welcome change, but there is that part of me that feels like I somehow got cheated out of a full summer.  My vacation plans were shortened and, in some cases, cancelled.  August, typically a slow month for me, was busier than many other parts of the year.  So, as I sit here wearing a light jacket and looking out on the misty hill in front of me with a few drops of moisture streaming down my window, I wonder what this new season brings … and I am extremely optimistic.

This week I get to work with one of my favorite corporate clients, Paul Mitchell the School.  I am days away from the launch of my new business website with corporate consultant, Mike Amado, titled NexAim.com.  One of my comedic, creative writing projects with my life long friend about a Behavior Therapist is being passed around in entertainment circles.  I continue to have great meetings with companies with whom I wish to partner.  I am inspired to continue developing a web series that is about communication, body language, choices, coaching, questions, NLP, movement, passion, love, forgiveness, gratitude, and any number of subjects about which I care with my good friend, Tom.  Next month, I get the opportunity to unveil a jazz concept designed to entertain while also educating and in November I’ll be working with The Lythgoes on a new entertainment project that promises to be a lot of fun.  I feel that I have so much to look forward to and I am so grateful.  My challenge is simply to breathe deeply as it is all happening and enjoy it as much as possible.  As was testament this summer, life moves so quickly.  Given the choice to enjoy it or rush through it (and I believe we have a choice about how we experience life), I am choosing to relish every bit of it.  Life is good and I am grateful.

Wishing everyone a pleasant transition into Fall,

Mark

www.MarkEdgarStephens.com

www.WhoAreYouChoosingToBe.com

ROAR!

Sometimes simply speaking out loud what you want to experience in life is enough to get the gears of your life moving.  So often, we keep little bits of inspiration, nudges from our environment, dreams from our subconscious tucked down deep inside of us.  Today’s challenge:  ROAR!!!  Say it out loud to yourself or in the presence of others.  What do you want to do?  What do you want to experience in life?  What is your secret dream or desire?  Say it out loud!  Sometimes we have to roar simply to hear ourselves.  My roar today:  “Let me be of great use!  Let me use my communication expertise and emotional intelligence to give something of great use to myself and to others.”  And, even as I finish writing this blog post, I believe that maybe my roar has already been heard.

Inspired to Roar,

Mark

www.MarkEdgarStephens.com

www.WhoAreYouChoosingToBe.com

BODY IMAGE!

I care a bit less now about how I appear to the world on the outside and I’m much more focused on how I feel on the inside.  This is a good thing.  The hair may recede a bit and it may become a bit more challenging to have a big, late night meal and NOT feel the effects in the middle of the night.  My body may be sore in places for reasons unknown and my face may indicate that I am no longer in my 20’s.  But, I freely admit that something has changed inside of me.  I am more aware of my desire to breathe deeply, to eat healthy, to sleep soundly, and to tell myself good things about me.  When I look at myself in the mirror, I see a body and a face that is aging with acceptance and with positive self-talk.  I have a choice about it.  I could choose to berate myself for not being in a 20-year old body and not having a face without a wrinkle.  But, that would be a waste of time.  Instead, I see a body that walks me up mountain sides, and bends and stretches daily.  I see a face that has heard many stories and lived many scenarios, but still chooses to smile and laugh.  I feel a glow inside and out that is not a reflection of youth, but a mirror of my gratitude, forgiveness, and love in this moment.  I enjoy where I am in life and I am thankful.  I am aware that life changes quickly and I will not visit this moment again.  So, as each change in my physical body comes, I will embrace it with open arms and know that I am truly blessed to feel all that I feel.  It is the journey of life and I choose to enjoy being on this ride.

Breathing deeply,

Mark

www.MarkEdgarStephens.com

www.WhoAreYouChoosingToBe.com

I DID IT … AND WOW WAS IT GREAT!

Recently, I posted a blog called “Do What You Love.”  Along those lines, I made a pledge to myself that I would follow my own advice.  I made a list of things that I enjoy doing that I haven’t done in a while.  One of those things was to dance.

I practice yoga at a local, donation-based studio in Santa Monica (PowerYoga.com).  Perusing the bulletin board after a class one day, I saw a posting for a Sunday evening class and “jam session” for Contact Improv Dance (ContactImprovLA.com).  I had no idea what it was or what to expect.  The posting described the practice as follows: “It’s somewhere between tango, modern dance, aikido, wrestling, gymnastics, acroyoga and none of the above.”  Great!  I still had not idea what to expect, but I went anyway.

OMG!  I had the best time.  In the big, wide-open studio about 20 people gathered to explore movement, the floor, the space around us and our own bodies.  We rolled on each other (literally, we did a group exercise called a “log roll,” so much fun), lifted one another, breathed together, and ended up in positions that one could only call, “interesting.”  It was a sensual experience without being sexual.  It was an intimate experience without being invasive.  It was physically challenging without feeling like work.  For three hours (an extremely fast three hours, I wanted to stay longer), a room full of virtual strangers shared this very unique touch/movement experience with very few words; communicating strengths, weaknesses, and curiosities through movement.

This morning I can feel that body my body is activated.  I moved in ways I haven’t moved in years.  My body feels that it has been massaged from top to bottom.  And, I am eager for my next class.

This all came about because of a challenge to “Do What You Love.”  I’m doing it and I’m loving it.

Invigorated,

Mark

www.MarkEdgarStephens.com

www.WhoAreYouChoosingToBe.com