Machu Picchu, love, service and wisdom
We’re right in the middle of our amazing Machu Picchu and Peru trip and it’s been incredible.
Of course, Machu Picchu was absolutely spectacular. To be there on the Solstice is so amazing. We got up before dawn to be there at first light.
We went to Sacsuayaman where they have the huge stones. We’re doing ceremonies everywhere and it’s so amazing.
This is one of the special doorways you find everywhere, this one is at Machu Picchu. The Incas believed doorways were portals, so these are very special. We’re setting intentions all over the place!
But the best part has been being with Jorge Luis Delgado, our shaman and guide. Everywhere we go Jorge is giving us the gift of his teachings. The primary one is the Incan idea that the primary goal of our lives should be how to live our lives in love, service and wisdom. These are the great pillars from which to live our lives. To stay in love all the time can make all the difference in our lives.
And when we are coming from love we are motivated to be of service to others.
And the ultimate pinnacle we can reach in our lives – to obtain true wisdom. Knowing that all is well at all times.
It’s a wonderful way to spend your life!
Wishing you a week filled with love, service and wisdom,
Debra
Debra Stangl / Founder
Sedona Soul Adventures – Transforming Lives One Soul At A Time
(877) 204-3664
https://sedonasouladventures.com
You only have to do this stuff 51% of the time
This has been a tough week. The shootings in Orlando have cast a long shadow.
One of my coaching clients was really affected by this and she’s also been very bothered lately by the presidential election – the tone and the general negativity.
She said “I’m feeling like the country is going to hell in a hand basket and I don’t want to feel that way. I know that feeling negatively isn’t going to bring me what I want” and what she wants in her life is happiness and purpose and abundance.
I reminded her we can’t all feel fabulous and wonderful and positive all the time. We’d be more like robots if we even tried to do that.
And then I reminded her again about the 51% rule.
Did you know that you just have to get to feeling good 51% of the time to make your life change completely? I’ve been teaching that and coaching that for over 12 years now and it’s one of my favorite concepts.
We all know (or at least I hope you know) that we are all creating our reality in every moment. What we think about, we get more of. What we are excited about, is on its way to us. What we’re worried about or afraid of is on its way to us. Maintaining the high vibration of excited expectation brings us into alignment with the higher vibrations of the things we all want – peace, happiness, love, abundance.
The more that we can maintain a positive attitude, the higher the vibration we’re in.
When we stay in the lower, slower vibrations of fear, worry, upset, frustration, we’re not in alignment with the higher vibrations of what we want and we can’t bring them to us. In fact, it keeps them away!
So the bottom line is – staying happy and positive and in the higher vibrations is going to bring you the peace, happiness, love and abundance that you want.
The problem is, in this day and age that’s hard to do.
Stuff is always happening. Not only big stuff like the shootings in Orlando, but just day to day life can be frustrating and difficult. And then if you have a situation that’s causing you stress (you hate your work, problems in your relationship, health issues, etc.) it’s almost impossible.
I talk about this a lot in my book that’s coming out in a few months, The Journey to Happy, so it’s been on my mind.
And for so long, I was assuming that I had to somehow stay feeling great, joyful, etc. 100% of the time in order to have the things I wanted. Knowing that I was never going to be able to do that just added to my frustration and hopelessness.
And then I figured it out. You just have to maintain at least 51% of feeling good to have your life transform. It’s the tipping point. If you can hold yourself in the place of feeling good at least 51% of the time, your life will start to transform dramatically. And the best part is, the percentages even out — meaning that there will be times you will be feeling at 65%, sometimes even at 85%, so even if you mainly stay in the 51-55%, you will start maintaining that vibration of wonderful, juicy, delicious joy!
Wow, what a weight was lifted from my shoulders!
The trick is to not dip back into the 49% very often. So have an arsenal of things ready to do when you start to feel yourself go into that dip. Things that kind of automatically make you feel good, or at least a little better. That’s all it takes, just feeling a little better. Don’t expect (or demand) that you must go into total bliss and joy, just do something, ANYTHING to make yourself feel a little better.
Here are some things that work for me:
– Writing down a list of things I’m grateful for and thinking about each thing.
– Petting my dog and feeling a huge surge of love for her.
– Listening to certain songs that just always make me feel better. The old Johnny Nash song, “I Can See Clearly Now” does it for me every time.
– If I’m at home, there are certain movies that just crack me up and I’ll put them on and fast forward to the scenes that make me laugh out loud.
– There are some videos on YouTube (usually involving cats or dogs doing something funny) that make me laugh.
– Sometimes meditating (particularly a guided meditation) can make me feel better, but if I find my mind going a mile a minute, I stop the meditation and move onto something else (like music). If it’s not making you feel a little better right away, try something else. That’s why I recommend having an arsenal of different tactics.
– Going outside in the sun and appreciating the beauty of the sun (or the stars) and how incredible and big life is, will sometimes move me to tears.
– Dancing and really moving (I recommend being alone for this!). What does the bumper sticker say? Dance as if no one is watching. That really moves the energy!
Sometimes we need some help to get us out of the space of not feeling good. It’s so amazing what a Sedona Soul Adventures retreat can do. Click Here and let us custom design a retreat that will get you to your 51% and give you the tools to keep you there!
Speak with one of our Angel Guides. They’ll connect with you (or both of you if it’s a couple) and they’ll custom design a retreat that will take you from where you are to where you want to be.
Click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you. Or if you’d prefer, call us toll free at 1-877-204-3664 (US and Canada). For our friends outside the US and Canada call 01 928-204-5988 or click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you. And remember, we work on Sundays!
Wishing you a week filled with high percentages of happy,
Debra
Debra Stangl / Founder
Sedona Soul Adventures – Transforming Lives One Soul At A Time
(877) 204-3664
https://sedonasouladventures.com
Michele says after her Soul Adventure she is “emotionally healed” and “happy and excited to view life from this new perspective”
“My Sedona Soul Adventure was so much more than I could have hoped for.
My Soul Adventure was custom made for me and proved incredibly helpful to my spiritual growth. I am now emotionally healed, my energies are balanced, my mind is clear. They also helped me to tear down the thick wall so I could open my heart. Most unexpectedly, I discovered I had newly raised consciousness. I wasn’t expecting that at all but am incredibly happy and excited to view life from this new perspective. I always had a strong spiritual take on life but this was unlike anything I’ve experienced and it’s with me to stay.
I truly can’t wait to return to Sedona and the other adventures they offer around the world. They all sound so seductive to my thirsty soul.”
Michele F., Vancouver, Canada
Download your free copy of our “Sedona Guide to Spiritual Retreats” or “Sedona Guide to Couples Retreats”
Would you like more information on our private, customized Retreats? Our free guide shows you how a private retreat in Sedona that is completely customized for you can transform your life or your relationship. Click here
The danger of putting off your life
One of our clients who came for a Soul Adventure last week told me she had been wanting to come for over 8 years. She said she kept putting it off, telling herself she couldn’t afford it, what if it didn’t work, she shouldn’t spend the time, etc., etc. But she said she just kept coming back to it, because there was a part of her that knew she was supposed to do this.
She finally came and had a completely transformational experience. At the end of her retreat, she called me and she was in tears saying “I wish I had done this 8 years ago when I first found you. I could have eliminated 8 more years of unhappiness”.
I told her what I know is true, which is that everyone comes when they’re supposed to, but it also made me remember how I was guilty of putting off my own happiness for so long. This has been on my mind a lot lately, as I’m finishing my book that’s coming out in a few months – The Journey to Happy.
I spent over half of my life telling myself things like:
– As soon as I lose 10 pounds, then I’ll be happy (then it became 20, then 30, etc.)
– As soon as I graduate from college, then I’ll be happy
– As soon as I graduate from law school, then I’ll be happy
– As soon as I get good at practicing law, then I’ll be happy
– As soon as I figure out how to get out of my law practice, then I’ll be happy
– When I get married, then I’ll be happy
– When I get rid of this guy, then I’ll be happy
– As soon as I’m making more money, then I’ll be happy
– As soon as I’m out of debt, then I’ll be happy
– When I figure out what my soul purpose is, then I’ll be happy
Do you get the drift? No matter what, I wasn’t happy.
I was always expecting my outside circumstances to somehow “make” me happy.
It went on and on and on like that and I’m embarrassed to admit it went on like that until I was in my late forties. I look back now, and even though I know in my head that it all happened the way it was supposed to, etc., etc., there is a part of me that looks at those years and feels a lot of sadness.
It did all work out. I finally got so unhappy that I did something about it. I came to Sedona and did a retreat.
I “got it”, that it wasn’t about outside circumstances, it was about
– how I was thinking about it
– how I was talking about it, and
– how I was feeling about it
It took me a long time but what makes me really sad is knowing there are so many people out there who keep on putting off their lives because they think there isn’t anything they can do about it.
Is that true for you? Do you keep telling yourself that “once______happens (fill in the blank), then I’ll be happy”? If you’re telling yourself that about anything in your life, please STOP! I can tell you from many years of experience, that isn’t how it works.
I love what my teacher Abraham says about this:
“Your life is right now! It’s not later! It’s not in that time of retirement. It’s not when the lover gets here. It’s not when you’ve moved into the new house. It’s not when you get the better job. Your life is right now. It will always be right now. You might as well decide to start enjoying your life right now, because it’s not ever going to get better than right now — until it gets better right now!”
I was reading and listening to Abraham for many years before I figured out how to do that. I believed what they were teaching, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it in my day to day life. It finally happened when I first came to Sedona.
And Sedona Soul Adventures was founded (3 years later) on the knowing that we can make that happen for everyone.
I had to get really unhappy before I finally did something about it. I got happy and now I help others get happy. Isn’t that great? It makes me very happy!
So would you like to get happy right now? if so, call us, we’re here. Come to Sedona and do a retreat. It’s the fastest way I know of for you to make the big shifts to get happy.
Click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you. Or if you’d prefer, call us toll free at 1-877-204-3664 (US and Canada). For our friends outside the US and Canada call 01 928-204-5988 or click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you. And remember, we work on Sundays!
Wishing you a week filled with lots of happy,
Debra
Debra Stangl / Founder
Sedona Soul Adventures – Transforming Lives One Soul At A Time
(877) 204-3664
https://sedonasouladventures.com
Starr says after her “deeply healing” Soul Adventure, she has “a happier heart”
“Sedona Soul Adventures was a tailor made soul journey, with the intimacy of one-on-one sessions with diversified, grounded and present Holistic Practitioners who focused on what I truly needed in that moment. As a result of these sessions, I have found that my inner child feels resurrected and the hole in my heart healed. The journey continues, but now I have some tangible tools to go forward with. It was deeply healing on many levels, and I have gratitude and a happier heart for it”
Starr C., Billings, Montana
Download your free copy of our “Sedona Guide to Spiritual Retreats” or “Sedona Guide to Couples Retreats”
Would you like more information on our private, customized Retreats? Our free guide shows you how a private retreat in Sedona that is completely customized for you can transform your life or your relationship. Click here
Champagne problems
I’ve talked about champagne problems before in this newsletter, but re-watching “Roots” this week has given me a new appreciation that absolutely ALL of my problems are champagne problems.
One of my friends coined this phrase for me many years ago when we were both commiserating about things going on in our lives. We weren’t exactly complaining, but almost. We’re both busy, we both have stuff going on. She said to me “well, at least these are definitely champagne problems” and we talked about how in the large scheme of things, we had nothing to complain about.
Watching the remake of “Roots” this week really brought me back to that awareness again. To imagine living in a time when you could be bought, sold, killed, raped and completely dehumanized is almost unimaginable. And that was just 150 years ago, not very long from an historical perspective. Worse, there is still slavery that takes place in the world today.
To be completely stripped of your freedom is something that I can’t even fathom.
So think about your own life. What kind of problems do you have? If your problems are truly serious, like you have an illness or you have a marriage that is ending, that is an important and very real problem.
But let’s face it, aren’t most of your problems champagne problems? Aren’t most of the things that you talk about and (heaven forbid) complain about actually not that big a deal in the large scheme of things? Everyone’s busy, everyone’s doing too much, everyone has stress in their life, but isn’t most of that stress self-imposed? And isn’t it true that most of what you worry about never comes to pass?
If you have a roof over your head and transportation and food to eat, you are doing better than 90% of the rest of the world. Do you appreciate that often enough?
And even more importantly, you have the freedom to live your life in any way you want. You probably tell yourself that’s not true, but I believe it is. Most of the people who read this newsletter live in the US or Canada. You have a freedom that has never been seen before on the planet.
Now here are some things I DON’T think are champagne problems:
1. Not living your best life.
2. Settling for a lifestyle or a relationship or a way of living that is no longer working for you.
3. Knowing you have a bigger Purpose, a Soul Mission, but you’re not fulfilling it.
4. Not knowing what your Life Purpose or Soul Mission is, and doing nothing to discover it.
5. Taking care of everyone else and not taking care of yourself.
6. Hating your life, your job, your partner or your body.
7. Staying Stuck.
Now THOSE are real problems. Those are the problems that keep people in unhappy, unhealthy relationships, keep them in jobs they hate, keep them in lives they hate. A pure recipe for misery and pain and despair (and in extreme cases disease and death).
So, if you have one of those real problems, what are you going to do about?
Are you going to DO something about it?
Or just continue to wallow in it and complain?
If so, then you really DO have a problem.
This month’s New Moon happened late last night and this next 48 hours is a particularly good time to set optimistic intentions and make plans that can come true. What a perfect time to decide to do a Sedona Soul Adventures retreat.
You have the freedom to make the decision to live your life the way you want.
Because our retreats are completely customized for exactly what YOU need (or both of you, if it’s a couple), we can handle every single one of those problems listed above.
It’s time to start living the life you want.
It’s time to have the relationship you want.
Click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you. Or if you’d prefer, call us toll free at 1-877-204-3664 (US and Canada). For our friends outside the US and Canada call 01 928-204-5988 or click here and one of our Angel Guides will call you. They’ll connect with you (or both of you if it’s a couple) in deep conversation to determine exactly where you are and where you want to be; then they’ll custom design the perfect retreat that will bring you the life or the relationship you’re craving.
Wishing you a week filled with champagne (the good stuff),
Debra
Debra Stangl / Founder
Sedona Soul Adventures – Transforming Lives One Soul At A Time
(877) 204-3664
https://sedonasouladventures.com
Vicki says after her Soul Adventure her “problems are gone” and it was “worth every penny!”
“I originally thought the price was expensive, but after I went through my Soul Adventure, I felt that it was worth every penny! Negative feelings I had bottled up for almost half a century had driven me to the wall. I am healed and I feel my problems are gone! I learned skills to continue to help me in every area of my life. Since I got back from Sedona, I have told many friends about my Soul Adventure, and two of my girl friends even drove from Houston to Sedona and they both had fantastic experiences. Thank you!”
Vicki C., Houston, Texas
Download your free copy of our “Sedona Guide to Spiritual Retreats” or “Sedona Guide to Couples Retreats”
Get answers to all your questions about our private, customized retreats. Our free guide shows you how a private retreat in Sedona that is completely customized for you can transform your life or your relationship. Click here