Tara Cooper
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Your intuition always knows...learn to trust it!

10/6/2019

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Lately I feel like my intuition is giving me more power, (and I will soon share a simple question you can ask yourself to gain more as well) more ability to see the truth in many situations. It gently reminds me that I already know the answer. It continues to show me examples so that I can allow the feeling to get strong enough to act upon it, rather than doubting. It is our innate gift that is always there, but we as humans tend to get really good at ignoring those hunches we receive.

I am not sure if it is because I am an only child that I was afraid to trust myself or if it was because I was an only child that I learned to trust myself.  Contradictory statements, yet a moment of indecision. 

I feel that as I grew up, I always put more emphasis on trusting everyone else around me and I often let my own voice disappear. Blending in was my superpower. But was it?  A superpower is something we are really good at that makes us unique and different from anyone.  It may have ben a superpower, but it wasn't exactly a positive one to have. And when I think back, I was a loner much of my youth (before 8th grade) and in high school I had friends (great life long friends), yet I still felt like a loner much of the time. Maybe it was the fact that I could sense that I was trusting so many others and not trusting myself, to try so hard to "fit in", and at times I didn't know exactly who I was meant to become.

I met my high school "sweetheart" in grade 8 at the age of 12 (on the school bus) and we dated off an on throughout our years during high school and college and the start of university years later), we even got engaged. Yet that relationship completely ended when I was 24 years old, just months before we were to be married. What I can say from that time in my life is that I had no idea who I was without him in my life. My youth years to my adult years became 100% influenced by our relationship together.  I didn't know how to even trust myself without him. How would I become a confident woman who would stand on her own and trust herself?  You see, I was in a life of always needing permission from someone else. This was no one's fault but my own...I just didn't trust that I knew the best answers for me. I always looked to others to help me figure it all out.

Fast forward a few decades and I can clearly see the difference between trust of self and the limited amount of trust in self.  I am grateful to know the difference now, even though it took some major personal growth.

As a parent & business owner, one of the most valuable things is to have trust in ourselves.  We make decisions that influence and affect others. Something I am teaching my own children is how to be really good at trusting themselves and to use their own voice to express their truth, not to be afraid of it.

Yet, as we do these things we become challenged in our own ways.  It is as if the Universe (or God or whatever power you believe in), says..."hey I see you, I notice what you are doing, but are you really living your life in this way?" And boy was I ever challenged.

I hit rock bottom a few years ago (you can read more about that time in my life by clicking here) and what I learned was that when I stopped trusting myself I was allowing too many others to influence my choices. I was looking for permission again. I was seeking truth from others and ignoring my own inner guidance. I was afraid to trust myself all while I was trying my best to teach my own children to trust themselves.  It was a wild ride - one I wouldn't wish upon anyone, yet I know that I had to go through it in order to really experience the things that come when we stop trusting our own intuition. Glad I am beyond that! It took me down to a really low place and then to try to get back up, it took years as I learned to trust myself again.  So if you are there now, have faith that it will change when you begin trusting yourself.

Are you currently in a place when you are looking outside yourself for the answers, for the guidance, for the next step you must take? Or are you really good at getting quiet enough to hear what your gut/intuition is trying to tell you. If you are really good at it all, you know how aligned you feel in your life. But if you are letting others make decisions for you and telling you what is the best action for you to take, you may find yourself spinning in circles and wondering why you feel so out of control or out of alignment.  What if I could tell you that TODAY you can change your current circumstances? But only if you decide to get really clear with your relationship with your inner guidance system (intuition/soul). 

How do you do this?  Well it may sound simple, yet it may still feel like it is hard.  When you find yourself at a crossroads (any type of crossroads), a time when a decision must be made, check in with yourself and ask yourself (using your first name)..."Name, if I did know the answer, what would the right choice be?" If you find yourself doubting yourself, as yourself why. The first choice that comes without overthinking it is the right choice. Problem that happens with me (that likely happens with you) is that we often overthink for hours, days, weeks and this could even become years.  This overthinking causes undue stress, and often negative thoughts (and don't underestimate the power of negative thoughts, because they infect every part of our lives)...and yet, if we get really good at trusting our intuition early, we can avoid all of this.

Today I made a decision that has been on my mind for years.  It was something so small (and personal), but it was something I almost thought about each and everyday for the past few years. It was negatively impacting my life and I was resentful. What does resentment do? Well, like Nelson Mandella said, "resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies."  Resentment does nothing but destroy ourselves.  It is capable to destroy your own mind and body overtime if you will let it.  

So I will ask you right now, (if you've read this far). Is there something you've been putting off doing? A decision that you've been wishing you knew the answer to? It could be something so small (but it has become MASSIVE because of the energy you are spending on it) or it could be so big and it will affect so many others that you just have no idea what to do.  What if you knew the answer?  Without overthinking RIGHT NOW...what would that answer be?  That is the truth for you.  So now my question is, are you ready to move forward and take action on that ONE thing that you know is the right answer for you?  Courage is needed, just like I needed today when I finally made the decision that was right for me.  But I will say that once I did it, I felt lighter instantly and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be (because I contemplated for years).  We often make decisions that we perceive to be best for everyone else, yet when we are forgetting our own needs and feelings to please everyone else, we really are not pleasing anyone (because the false or fake part of us, hurts people even more, because we are not speaking our truth and this is noticed- people are VERY smart at an intuitive level).

So my hope for you, is that you start or continue practicing your intuitive gift. We all have it, but some choose to ignore the nudges. Begin getting really good at trusting yourself and when you find yourself thinking, "what would (friend/family member) do in this situation?" change it to: "if I knew the best answer for me, what would I decide?"

When we all get really good at trusting ourselves, we will make decisions that are right for us and the bonus is: others will accept us for who we are or they wont...but the real gift that comes is in knowing who is in your corner even when you use your own voice!

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Because I MATTER and so do you!

10/25/2016

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​Because I MATTER...I told myself, as I asked the question WHY?  When I allowed myself to get creative with "bubble letters" in my journal, I simply answered a question, the question was
WHO ARE YOU CHOOSING TO BE?  My answer was clear, Being the best version of me, because I MATTER!!

That was it, I signed and dated it and I felt my body, mind and soul follow suit.

It was 9:20pm on October 23, 2016 and I knew that I hadn't been honouring myself as much as I thought I was doing all that I could to do so.  

Exactly 24 hours before this moment a dear friend of mine (Kirsten), shared a Yoga Intensive program with me, she told me it was starting on October 24th and it was something that would be 5 days per week going from 6am until 7:30 am for an entire month.  I got excited with the thought of it, but quickly found myself making all the excuses for why it wouldn't work.  Yet for the entire 24 hours, I continued to think about how great it would be if I would commit to myself and make some positive changes, starting with waking up early to take time for me before anyone else in the house was awake.  

When the negative self talk came in (which I refer to now as the lizard brain, thanks to a great mentor, Colin James), I knew that this wasn't me...this was my past dictating my future and I was listening to my self talk as some sort of boss in my life.  And then I remembered that the power is within myself to either believe the negative self talk or to acknowledge it and move beyond it.

​​That lizard brain got louder and LOUDER.  It was saying things such as, "are you crazy? You can't get up before 7:00, you can barely wake up before 7:30, so who are you kidding?  This will be just ONE more thing you will start and not complete and it will be a waste of your money.  You may start strong, but there is NO way you will create a new habit"  And the messages continued.



48 hours earlier I had also made a commitment to myself, to get back into healthy eating habits through the program I cherish and represent in my business.  The past few months have been less than ideal.  I wasn't a product of my product for quite sometime, I would find myself doing great for a bit and then falling back into bad habits.  I was rushing most mornings to get the kids fed and out the door, and half the time they were missing the bus so I was driving them to school.  Instead of having a shake, I would find myself driving through the Tim Horton's drive thru to have a breakfast sandwich approximately twice a week.  There were many days that I would go to Barrie to do errands or meet up with others, only to find that I didn't plan well, and would get hungry while in the city...so I would often pull through a drive through to have a 6 inch sub or a wrap (trying to convince myself that this is a "healthy-ish" choice), only to find myself lacking in energy and motivation throughout the day.

So once again, because of my previous commitment to myself to return to my healthy eating habits and now adding a "get up out of bed" and yoga expectation 5 days a week, I was finding myself hearing that lizard brain saying, "yup, you really are crazy...you think you can return to a healthy eating habit by doing a 9 day cellular body cleanse and finish it continuing as a 30 day system AND wake up early and do yoga...yes, you Tara Cooper have lost your mind...and I call the BS card on you...you will NOT do it, because you have tried so many times before, and you have NOT EVER continued...but go ahead, go against what I say, and I will PROVE that you can't follow through."

Yes that lizard is a bother, it is downright rude if you ask me...but I knew (because of so much work I've been doing on my mindset) that this is normal and this lizard brain of mine is trying it's best to keep me safe in my bubble of comfort.  My lizard LOVED to sleep in and eat junk.

So as I prepared to move forward with a BEGINNER'S MINDSET, (in order to build myself some new and sustainable healthy habits), I thanked my lizard brain (picture of the lizard drawn by Colin James) for trying to keep me safe and I made a conscious decision to plan for the next day. October 24th would be my first day of new beginnings.

  • I will wake up at 6:25am to Adventure of a Lifetime by Coldplay
  • I will take my peppermint and orange essential oils and put them in my diffuser
  • I will do 20 minutes of yoga: Easy Yoga for Beginners - Full Body Gentle Flow Yoga (youTube)
  • I will do 20 minutes of meditation with Either: Chakra Cleansing & Activating guided meditation on YouTube OR Buddhist Meditation for Beginners  (I did end up choosing the Chakra Cleansing today)
  • I will do 20 minutes of journalling or soul journalling (I love soul journaling, goes so much deeper and beneficial for me)
  • I will have my Ionix, my shake and my vitamins when I finish
  • I will make breakfast and lunches for the kids


Did I do what I set out to do?
Well that lovely LIZARD brain of mine tells me, "don't get too excited, because you have started strong in the past, only to fizzle out within a few days".  However, my soul is cheering me on, saying YES, you did it, you proved that it is possible to rise early before anyone else, and even before your alarm went off.  You were able to get everything done that you set out to do and you ROCKED it Tara.

So yes, I did what I set out to do and I do feel wonderful.  I enjoyed the Yoga and the Chakra Cleansing (links found above) and had 15 minutes to journal, which was NO PROBLEM to complete, I wrote the entire 15 minutes.  I started with 2 paragraphs of personal journalling and then completed approximately 3.5 pages of Soul Journalling (see link for more on how to do soul journaling if you are interested). Or for a more detailed exercise, buy Elisa Romeo's book called Meet your Soul.

I began the day as I planned to and I loved every single moment of it.  I got my Ionix and my shake with vitamins before anyone came downstairs for breakfast. I managed to make lunches and breakfast for the kids and we enjoyed a continuous replay of our song of the day: Coldplay's Adventure of a Lifetime.  The kids had a bounce in their step and so did my husband and I.  They got on the bus.  And our day was off to a great start.

The morning was light, fresh and inspiring.  I look so forward to beginning my day the same way tomorrow.

Nutrition as planned for anyone interested in doing this too (if you don't know what certain things are, and have interest, just ask.), include consumption of water throughout the day also.
Morning:
  • Ionix (1 oz) 
  • Isa-shake mixed only with water
  • Accelerator x 1, Brain boost x 3, Product B x 2
  • Greens (1 shot)
  • snack midmorning (likely IsaDelight)
  • e+ shot
Afternoon:
  • Ionix (1 oz)
  • Isa-shake mixed only with water
  • snack (Chewables or IsaDelight - or veggies with hummus)
Evening:
  • fish (baked) - will share recipe soon (I tend to put it together as I make it)
  • rice or quinoa mixture
  • veggies and or greens (1 shot if needed)
Before Bed:
  • sleep spray (2 sprays)
  • IsaComfort x 2
  • IsaOmega (1 or 2)
  • Thyroid medication (as prescribed)
*I am not currently taking any other supplements or vitamins at this time, but will increase or alter times as I bring habits back into my routines.


I choose music today to be about Intuition and Connection...and a bit of Physical!  This is a great chart to help with music choices for your Chakras.

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What is The Courage to BE?

11/16/2015

 
    Where this blog began

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    Tara is a mother of 3. She is a passionate student as she continues to learn not only about her inner strength, but she learns the strength that all people have when they find the courage to trust themselves.

    We often believe that we can change others, but the wise student knows that the only person that we can change is ourselves and that change alone may inspire others to do their own work too!  

    We are born to grow.  Growth and learning is a constant in Tara's opinion.  When we are not growing...we've heard it before, we are dying.  Let's all commit to keep growing - WITH COURAGE!

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Photos used under Creative Commons from Maria C Dawson|Stupefied, Celestine Chua, Paul L Dineen, mrsdkrebs, DarlingJack, www.geteverwise.com, Brett Jordan, QuotesEverlasting, @lattefarsan, Celestine Chua, Wicker Paradise, eschipul