Peeling Mom Off the Ceiling

8 Ways to Make Meditation Easy and Fun

8 Ways to Make Meditation Easy and Fun.

Oh, yeah!  Check out this article from Tiny Buddha.  I love the practical, reasonable advice they give on how to make meditation work for you. I'm definitely going to use some of these myself!

Mom Entrepreneur Extraordinaire is HERE

I'm delighted to introduce my new book:  Mom Entrepreneur Extraordinaire! I have collaborated with 20 other experts to bring you this collection of fabulous tips and tricks to help your b usiness and your life thrive.  

For the month of February, proceeds from all sales of this book will benefit www.washingtoncash.org, a Washington State non-profit organization that helps low-income entrepreneurs realize their dreams. PLUS, everyone purchasing a book in February will be invited to a wonderful THANK YOU party in Seattle on March 3rd!

Order Mom Entrepreneur Extraordinaire NOW using the PayPal storefront widget in the upper right hand corner of this page.

World Read Aloud Day is March 9, 2011

I'm honored and proud to have been named the Seattle ambassador for World Read Aloud Day.  

LitWorld.org created World Read Aloud Day to promote worldwide literacy through transformational reading and writing experiences that build connection, understanding, resilienceand strength. Educated citizens are far more likely to be healthy, raise healthy children, hold steady jobs and contribute to the social, intellectual and emotional welfare of their communities. LitWorld vigorously campaigns for the rights of children to learn to read and write so they can grow up safe, secure and productive, and become socially and environmentally responsible engaged members of their local communities. LitWorld  is led by renowned literacy educator Pam Allyn, who will be the featured guest on my"Peeling Mom Off the Ceiling" radio show on Monday, February 28th, 2011.

 Global Literacy Saves Lives

In SubSaharan Africa, providing every mother with secondary education would save the lives of 1.8 million children each year.

Global Literacy Improves Family Planning

Lack of education for women is strongly associated with early marriage, larger family sizes and poor health and nutrition.

Global Literacy Decreases Child Mortality  

A child whose mother cannot read or write is 50% more likely to die before the age of five and 200% more likely to suffer from malnutrition than a child whose mother completed primary school .

Global Literacy Impacts Maternal & Child Health

Women with six or more years of education is three times less likely to seek prenatal care, assisted childbirth and postnatal care, reducing the risk of maternal and child mortality and illness

Global Literacy Increases Economic Prosperity

A map of areas of high illiteracy in the world corresponds with a map of high levels of poverty, and literacy competence is an essential learning outcome contributing to economic development. Literacy is one of the features – but a universal one – that is linked with poverty reduction, economic growth and wealth creation. 

Stay tuned to this website for details on local World Read Aloud Day events in the Seattle area.

How Meditation May Change the Brain - NYTimes.com

Over the December holidays, my husband went on a 10-day silent meditation retreat. Not my idea of fun, but he came back rejuvenated and energetic.

via well.blogs.nytimes.com

Well, yesterday marked the end of my "108 days of meditation", and I'm sorry to say I fell pretty hard off the wagon. I managed to meditate maybe once every two weeks or so, instead of daily. I would like to try again, especially since I found this article about the benefits of meditation really motivating!

Happy New Year!

I'm so excited about 2011.  2010 was a banner year for PMOTC.  We grew so much! 

I'm also grateful for the shout-outs I've received on some year-in-review blog posts:

Thank you to Dr. Emily Deans of Evolutionary Psychiatry for the big "howdy" on her "Closing Out 2010" post. I'm utterly fascinated by the studies she shares about diet and its impact on mental health. She was a great guest on the show this past year!

Also thanks to Beth Buelow, of The Introvert Entrepreneur for the lovely shout-out on her "Five Introverts Who Made A Difference in 2010" post.  It's definitely the first time my name has been mentioned in an article with Oprah Winfrey.  Will it be the last?  Let's hope not!

I have SO many exciting things planned for 2011.  Please be sure you're on my mailing list to get the very latest info. 

Have a blessed 2011.  I intend to.

New Year, New You*

I'm sitting next to a warm stove-heater in my little cottage on Whidbey Island, using these last few days of 2010 to lay some groundwork for 2011.  I love the holiday season and especially love the New Year holiday.  I'm a fan of new beginnings and hope.  I think New Year's is the most hopeful holiday of all.

What do you hope for in the New Year?  Do you make resolutions?  Do you keep them?  Or do you prefer to set goals?  Perhaps "none of the above" is more your approach to the new year.

Here's a thought:  If you hope for happiness or health, how do you know when you've achieved it? 

I'm a massage therapist, as well as a massage instructor, and one of the big concepts I teach my students is that of "measurable outcomes".  Let's say your client is experiencing leg pain and they want to "feel better".  So you give them the massage, and they feel better.  But then they realize their leg is still hurting.  So they might think "Gee, that massage didn't really work after all.  My leg still hurts."  This is where measurable outcomes come in handy.  You see, we humans are a forgetful bunch.  And left to our own devices, we're apt to continue to focus on what isn't working for us rather than what has improved.  With measurable outcomes, we can ask our massage client, for example, "On a scale of 1-to-10, with 10 being the worst pain possible, where are you at today?"  Let's say they say "Seven".  It's possible that with a few massage sessions they might say they're still hurting, and they might start to get discouraged.  This is where you ask them to assess their pain again, and when they say "Four" you can show them the chart of how their pain has continually improved. Got it?  So measurable outcomes allow us to have a quantifiable way to show improvement.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

With the New Year I invite you to set goals for yourself.  Goals with measurable outcomes.  Rather than "I hope I'm happy for 2011", try being more specific:  "I will take one day a month devoted to only doing things that I want to do."  This way, come the end of the year, you'll be able to measure your progress, and see how you did.  

Happy New Year to all of you.  2010 has been a banner year for Peeling Mom Off the Ceiling.  I'm hopeful that 2011 will bring even more success to us all.  (And now I'm off to ponder precisely what that will look like for me, and how to measure it!)

*My husband informed me this morning that "New Year, New You" is a phrase that is statistically proven to be marketing gold. Figured I'd give it a shot.

How to Speak So Your Dog Will Listen - Online Course

Today's radio show guest is dog trainer and relationship authority Neil Sattin. Tune in today for our show "Stress-free Relationships with Yourself, Your Family and Your Dog".  Meanwhile, be sure to check out Neil's great class here at PMOTC:  How to Speak So Your Dog Will Listen.    It's an online course, so you can take it at home!

Newest Sponsor: Doggy Delights!

I’m very happy to introduce you to our newest sponsor:  Doggy Delights.  Founder Regina Harman loves her city of Las Vegas, and she loves dogs, fostering and finding homes for as many as she could. She wanted to find better products for them to consume.  Thus was born Doggy Delights: distinguished dog cookies with a Las Vegas spin.

They make their dog treats with the highest quality all-natural ingredients, and have a wide variety of fun shapes. Need a holiday gift for that special canine in your life? Doggy Delights can ship your dog cookies, cakes, or even DOGGIE CUPCAKES anywhere in the nation and they'll include a gift card!  PMOTC fans, enter the code MOM for 10% savings on your order! DoggyDelightsLasVegas.com

Newest Sponsor: Bauble Board!

I'm delighted to introduce you to PMOTC's newest sponsor: BaubleBoard.com  Bauble Boards are custom-shaped display boards. They can be personalized and used to display just about anything, like lapel pins, patches, coins, lures, and more. 

I love the entrepreneurial spirit that Rodney and Mitzi Koons showed when the bad economy hit home. They decided to take their destiny into their own hands and start their own business.

Our family has a drawer full of Disney pins from our various trips to Disney parks. I think this mouse ears shaped board will be just the thing to show them off!

Peeling Mom Off the Ceiling fans, click here to get FREE SHIPPING on your order.  What a fun holiday gift!

Wandering mind not a happy mind | Harvard Gazette

About 47% of waking hours spent thinking about what isn’t going on

Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer Harvard psychologists Matthew A. Killingsworth (right) and Daniel T. Gilbert (left) used a special "track your happiness" iPhone app to gather research. The results: We spend at least half our time thinking about something other than our immediate surroundings, and most of this daydreaming doesn't make us happy.

Harvard psychologists Matthew A. Killingsworth (right) and Daniel T. Gilbert (left) used a special "track your happiness" iPhone app to gather research. The results: We spend at least half our time thinking about something other than our immediate surroundings, and most of this daydreaming doesn't make us happy.

via news.harvard.edu

A fascinating article, and one which reminds me to continue my meditation practice!