Holiday Season Stress? Yes, You've Got in Under Control

This month Mind Key will be sharing stories and tips for living in the moment with ease and brilliance this holiday. Inspirational author and motivational speaker, Azuka Zuke, provides encouragement and insights on how we can remain positive and present with our loved ones and the beauty of peace during even the most stressful moments this holiday.

author Azuka Zuke

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                   It’s holiday season again.  A time when we get into the frenzy of celebrations. From holiday songs to decoration adorned houses lining streets of holiday shoppers. For some people, this is an exciting time. But for others, this can also be a tough time of year. We all want peace, beauty, mindfulness, happiness, strength and joy, but oftentimes we find ourselves overwhelmed with to-do lists that are too long, school stress, financial stress, job stress,  family matters and even illness as the weather changes.

Do you find yourself in any of these challenges? Are you overwhelmed with the pressures of  the holiday season? Are you running late in meeting the demands of shopping for all your family members? Are you stressed financially at this time of year? If you are in this category, I can assure you now that there is a better way to make the situation stress free. As a published author and motivational speaker, I have some advice for you to give you hope to be able to navigate the stresses of the holiday season and even beyond.

1.     Develop a positive attitude and apply it to any situation in which you find yourself. Understand that holidays will come and go and more will come, so do not beat yourself down if you do not achieve all you intended. You don’t have to do everything in one day.   No matter how late you are running on schedule, stay positive for it is the best attitude. 

2.     Delegate some duties to trusted relatives so you can have some breathing space and rest.  Delegating authority is very important. Oftentimes we want to do it all. In our desire to do the will of God, we may take on too many responsibilities. In as much as it is done with a clear intention for positive results, we end up overwhelming ourselves. The key is this- be positively minded, be a positive leader, exhibit all the positive energy, but delegate responsibilities. Moses spent every day listening to complaints from his loved people until he was told to slow down lest he wear himself out. He was advised to appoint capable people to help carry the load. In essence he was advised to appoint leaders from the positively minded people that surrounded him. That way they could all lead together to achieve more results and never be overwhelmed. In other words, we should learn to delegate and release burdens sometimes.  That way we can achieve more.

3.     Surrounding yourself with positive and happy people who will always discuss how great the holiday season is going, no matter what . Avoid negativity and self-criticisms.  That is the first step to thinking positively. Change your thoughts to positives and you are on the road to creating a great holiday season.

4.     Finally, play good music that keeps your body and soul together, laugh more, and meditate every morning and last thing at night before bed to relax yourself. Remember no matter how stressful things may be, no matter how busy you are, rest is still very important and a vital part of a healthy lifestyle.

Stay the course, stay strong and enjoy the season, but stay positive. You’ll be fine.

-       Azuka Zuke, Motivational Speaker/ Author. A disciple of the movement  for change and gratitude.   

Azuka is the author of inspirational books and loves speaking in schools.  His books will be available for sale this week in the Mind Key store.

Discover Azuka:

www.AzukaZuke.com      azukazuke@gmail.com 

Finding healing for body, mind and soul at the Mind Key Winter Solstice Celebration

Barbara Steingas is an award-winning author, inspirational speaker and radiant life coach. She has written three books which share her tools of healing and wholeness through body, heart and spirit, drawing on her personal path of healing, and 30 years experience as a physical therapist. Her coaching, workshops and talks are designed to help you quickly identify the missing pieces to your personal healing puzzle, optimize your health and vitality, and live the radiant life you deserve.

As a member of the Mind Key Community, Barbara will be joining us at the Winter Solstice Celebration this Saturday in West Milford, NJ.  Visit www.mindkey.me/festivals to learn more about this day of free events, demonstrations, crafts, live music and open mic, and more for the entire family.

"I have creativity/artistic talent in my genes," Barbara said. "My maternal grandfather was an opera singer in Germany and my dad was a musician, mainly saxophone. I danced ballet and played flute in my youth, but didn't reconnect with my artistic side until my late 30s."

Divine inspiration came while watching "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" for about the 3rd time, and she wrote her first book about her German family.

"It occurred to me that I have so many warm and touching stories about them and one doesn't hear about that aspect of the German culture too often," Barbara said.

She was also compelled to write about her journey of recovery from Crohn's disease. This book, The Healing Puzzle won Honorable Mention Winner of the 2nd Annual Global Book Contest.

"Writing, especially journaling,  is a great way to assist with healing by allowing one to release emotional, mental and spiritual dis-ease, which when held inside, leads to physical disease of the body. It allows us to creatively express our true inner feelings safely and allows us to discover our authentic voice," Barbara said.

At her table, Barbara will be offering her three books: Germans are Funny, Too!, a story of experiencing and understanding the German culture through her cuckoo Kraut family, and the healing that comes with it; The Healing Puzzle, a story of how unconditional love helped Barbara heal from a chronic autoimmune disease; and Solving the Crohn's and Colitis Puzzle, where Barbara shares seven simple and easy-to-follow strategies for body, mind, emotion, and spirit which are designed to help those suffering from Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis improve and optimize their quality of health.

In addition to taking appointments for her one-on-one coaching sessions for living your most vibrant and radiant self, Barbara will be offering health consultations including seated chakra balancing with reiki healing at the festival.  Each 20 minute session is only $20.

Barbara will also be onstage at 12:00 noon to talk about Five Simple Strategies to being Physically, Mentally, Emotionally and Spiritually Fit.  In this talk, she will share how feelings, interactions with others and thoughts can combine with food and mindful physical practices (such as yoga) to help the body function in a state of wholeness and health.


"Everyone has a puzzle in their past that created where they are now, but there is also a puzzle of where they want to go in all areas of their life, such as goals for health, financial prosperity and relationships. I help people find the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual pieces they need to achieve these goals so they can live their life fully and radiantly."

Barbara's piece "Everything in Moderation" can also be found in Yin and Yang: The Duality of Balance, Mind Key's second anthology, which will debut and be available for sale at the festival this weekend.


Learn more about others at the festival:
About the festival
The Village Shaman 
Living your most radiant life
Muses with Scissors creativity for all
Essential oils and goddess energy

Becoming Whole: Making peace with the light and the dark

At Mind Key we believe are all whole and perfect, exactly the way we are. The only way to accept and make peace with this truth is by exploring the shadow side of ourselves and bringing it to light.

In our anthology, Yin and Yang: The Duality of Balance our healers, artists and writers share their insights and journeys into achieving wholeness via both the yin and yang sides of themselves and the world around them.

Let them inspire you on your own path of healing and happiness in the following reviews of their contributions to this beautiful, full color work of art:

Award-winning author, inspirational speaker and radiant life coach, Barbara Steingas, helps people find the pieces they need to solve their personal health puzzle through coaching services, talks, workshops, and her writing. Barbara's passion is helping others optimize their health and vitality.

accompanying image by Alma Carel

In her piece, Everything in Moderation, Barbara tells how she seesawed between healthy and unhealthy eating habits. This bouncing from one extreme to another became a determining factor in why she eventually developed Cohn's Disease, which affects the body's ability to digest and eliminate food. Her story speaks not only to women, but also to men who struggle with striking that balance between what is right for their bodies, and their emotional health. Without this crucial balance, everything suffers.

Poet, artist, and clothing designer, Ava M. Hu studied poetry and sculpture at St. Lawrence College. To Ava, there is a fine line between art and poetry, one a written metaphor, the other visual.

accompanying photo by JoAnna Schillaci

Ava's word choice is exquisite, and her poems elicit raw, and often nostalgic emotion from a few short lines of descriptive language—whether describing the relationship nature and god, and how it reveals itself in the "Secret Mantra" of love, or representing in ten very short lines how one can achieve all they desire through observing the space, time, and poetry between the stars, between molecules of water.

"Ava appreciates short concise thoughts and questions that inflame your brain," Yin and Yang editor and contributor, Charla Dury writes.

art by Elisabeth Ladwig

Elisabeth Ladwig, an award-winning conceptional photographer, believes "that life’s mysteries fall within the parameters of scientific explanation, that science abides by the Laws of Nature, and that nature is magical."

This belief is conveyed through her digitally composed photography, each piece with elements of nature and with an anonymous subject, offering a variety of metaphors for the miracles all around us, and for humankind’s relationship with the Earth and with the Cosmos.

“Anonymity allows the viewer to take part in writing the story,” Elisabeth says, “and that story is going to be different for everyone.”

photo by Charla Dury

Journalist, editor, columnist, poet and musician, Gene Myers, believes the connection between art and life is everything, so why separate music from poetry? Creating is his way of relating to his surroundings, and to others, more deeply. It's about communicating and sharing the real-life miracle of art.

"I only write when I think I have found something that is a worthy find, something to share with others. For me, that is the point, otherwise, why bother?"

Charla writes, "Gene makes you think. He brings every-day human interaction to the ethereal, describing succinctly the mood and emotion of the moment using poetry. In A God Who Is Still Making Up His Mind, Gene’s God sounds a lot like a father who is world weary or an overworked mother hoping for a 'me night'.”

Perhaps he is also speaking to the god-like-ness of parenthood, in which parents have the both grueling and fulfilling task of allowing their children free will while imposing upon them the rules of the universe.

Dr. Kevin Hall approaches both health and life from the understanding that there is “an accessible greater intelligence that we can tap into and draw from.”

photo by Danielle Rose

This intelligence offers a place to still our minds and hearts, Kevin said, so we can view our thoughts and emotions from a distance, creating a new perspective for how we feel and think. He shares this perspective with others through his words as well as his practice.

In Using Light by Night, Kevin talks about his struggle with life's curveballs. In his medical practice he encompasses a wide variety of modalities for health to create a wide-angle vision of what’s happening. So, this wide-angle applies in his essay as well.

“There are people that looked up at the starts and just saw stars, then there are those that looked up and saw constellations,” Kevin said. “I’m a constellation seer.”

art by Dana Bree

As an artist, Dana Bree believes that a connection to, and an opportunity to discover new things with like minded individuals, is essential to her health, happiness, and creative progress.

“This has also allowed me to move forward into metaphysical realms with healing and helping others as well as myself,” Dana said.

Dana's art has been inspired not only by her dreams, but by the inspiring life she has led

In The Master Juggler, Dana brings together bright and contrasting colors to create a feeling of expansiveness—as is seen through the cosmos peeking out the juggler's window—as well as perspective as he looks upon the Earth as it juggles between the cracked egg and the 8-ball. The combination of the three in suspension represent the fragile nature of our existence in the universe.

photo by Heather Taylor

Heather Taylor is a mom first, but she refuses to let motherhood define her solely, and is continually creating, whether photography, art, crafts or food.

In Heather's photo, Glisten Dichotomically, editor and Yin and Yang contributor Tamara Rokicki appreciates the yellow selection of the leaves, and writes that yellow expresses energy, joy and happiness, stressing the importance of positive vigor and contentment even throughout the coldest phases of our lives. Tamara is particularly struck by this message as we revel through autumn to prepare ourselves mentally and spiritually for winter by taking courage and inspiration from Mother Nature.


This photo is also Heather's son's graduation portrait, and it reflects Heather's passion for her family, who have inspire her to show the world the amazing gifts a family can bring and the legacy it can leave.

Other artists and writers to contribute to this beautiful work of art include

art by Jason Tirendi

• art by our digital editor, Jason Tirendi,
• photography by Stan Cohen,
• meditations by healer, Kathleen Santora,
• stories by psychic, Sarah Loukos,
• storyteller Rebecca Godina,
• writer Tamara Rokicki
• mixed media and poetry by artist and jeweler, Rachel Bertoni,
• writing and photography by editors Charla Dury and Danielle Rose
• Plus many more!

Read and view more by pre-ordering your copy of Yin and Yang: The Duality of Balance (CLICK HERE) today, and guarantee it in-hand with plenty of time for the holidays.


Or read the full reviews below:

The juggler of the world (Dana Bree)

How do you glisten? (Heather Taylor)

Using Light by Night (Kevin Hall)

Everything in Moderation (Barbara Steingas)

The power of simple words, images and art (Ava Hu)

What if God Were Still Making Up His Mind? (Gene Myers)

Behind the scenes: The Making of Yin and Yang (video)

Discovering Celtic Inspired Art

This weekend I attended The Celtic Heritage Festival in Bethlehem, PA. 

Besides the amazing array of kilts, celtic music, and sports, I was stunned by the quality vendors whose wares were for sale at this show.

The beauty of walking through tents and tents of hand crafted items is that each booth brings you into a different space of being. Whether it's smelling hand carved wooden toys and sculptures, watching the light bounce off hand tooled copper designs, or discovering an amazing new art techniques… each new space brings with it a sense of awe, wonder and amazement.  Even better is the opportunity to meet the artist and talk about their work.  They're always so willing to share their techniques, their inspiration, and their story.  If I didn't have two little girls and a friend with me (all three of whom were exceedingly patient), I could have spent hours with each artist.

my necklace from Forge Jewelry

Katie Hobson and Brian Davis of Forge Jewelry create hand crafted designs based off the celtic knot. They use stoneware pottery fired in a kiln, then enamel the pieces, hand draw the designs, silk screen them on, and fire everything a third time.  Somehow they are able to keep their prices affordable, and their designs fresh.  A powerful addition to the wardrobe of anyone looking to bring in energy, or interested in celtic design. This beautiful necklace, however, is mine :)

Courtesy of http://dragonfire.ns.ca/

Kathryn Looby of Dragon Fire Art creates hand hammered copper art.  The detail in her work is amazing, and each piece comes with a poem or story that Kathryn wrote.  Walking through her booth was like walking through a copper storybook, and it was clear the tale each piece told.

Finally, I discovered Kevin Dyer of CastPaper.com toward the end of the day. He began his career as a printer, and continued learning paper-related techniques such as embossing. He ended up creating a process called cast paper.  It begins with hand drawn designs. Next he builds a relief image over the hand drawn image in wax. He uses the wax design to create a permanent mold. He then fills the mold with a paper pulp which he hand paints after it hardens.  The result is phenomenal.  Unfortunately, these images don't nearly do his pieces justice. You simply have to see them to believe them.

courtesy of castpaper.com

Please check out these artists sites to learn more about them, and to discover more about Mind Key and our artists, please check us out at www.mindkey.me or sign up for our newsletter today: http://eepurl.com/Sdc5T

Tamara Rokicki on Minute Novel - Writing as inspiration

by Tamara Rokicki

There’s a spiritual connection that comes from writing and it harbors a strong inner enlightenment.

I began writing at a very early age.  I wrote about everything—stories of fairies, fashion tips, recipes,

Tamara Rokicki

manga, personal journals and eventually what turned out to be the beginning of novels.  Thinking back to the early years of my life, I see that writing wasn’t just something I learned to enjoy over time.  There wasn’t a particularly enlightening class in elementary school that prompted me to love the art of writing.  It was something emblazoned deep inside my core even before I could steadily hold a pen in my hand.  It was my life connection to something higher.  

I often see myself as lost inside a venue of veins traveling inside of me.  The power of writing motions me through the inner nooks and spaces that make up who I am.  It brings to light just what I stand for, what I believe in, what troubles me, and who I want to be.

That’s where NaNoWriMo comes in.  It provides me with the tools I need to simply let go and search for myself in a jungle of words and metaphors.  My first introduction to NaNoWriMo was about four years ago thanks to my cousin, Danielle.  A writer herself she explained how NaNoWriMo helps unleash the artist within.  Her enthusiasm pushed me to try it and I was immediately hooked.  Not only it provided me with a community of fellow writers, but also shed the truth on what really matters: relax, take a breath, ignore the rules and WRITE.  No guidelines, no doubts, no second-guesses.  Just write.

My NaNoWriMo exploration gave me the opportunity to interview one of my favorite authors, Marissa Meyer.  Starring on my blog as a guest, she answered questions about her writing journey; a journey that made her successful thanks to NaNoWriMo (Find my blog interview here).

But it didn’t end there.  My inspiration pushed me to reach out to the community and host a NaNoWriMo workshop at my local library.  I was able to share the benefits of this amazing challenge with local amateur writers, many of them hiding in the shadows, afraid to take their writing to the next level.  For weeks I was flooded by emails from attendees, thanking me for opportunity to find NaNoWriMo.  One of them, thanks to this workshop, recently self published a book (to read about my hosted workshop experience, see here)

The Mind Key Minute Novel is another tool.  It brought me closer to other writers who like me believe there’s more than a page with words.  There’s a spiritual connection that bonds us through the expression of writing; because at the end we all seem to transform the meaning of a ‘writer’.  

A writer believes that there’s an unseen power that only words can unleash.  

“No, no,” was all Antha could say as she shook her head.   It couldn’t be.  This girl staring at her from inside the cottage, whose mouth had just tore into someone’s flesh and gruesomely killed an innocent person, was a monster—not a girl.  Not her sister.  

Charla on writing Minute Novel: Click here
Danielle on writing Minute Novel: Click here

Click below to read what else Tamara and the other members of the Mind Key cabin are writing this month.  Don't forget to vote for your favorite!

Have you been following your favorite Mind Key writer? Now it's easier than every to read, share and vote! Please...
Posted by Mind Key on Friday, April 17, 2015

The Camp NaNoWriMo Mind Key Challenge

I have undertaken an amazing adventure.

Yes, yes, relaunching Mind Key is an amazing adventure… and please don’t think I’ve dropped the ball on this yet.  We have a wonderful community built, and we are all working together (which is incredibly inspiring) to create a blog worthy of what you expect from a community dedicated to creativity, inspiration, connection and growth.  Meanwhile, we’re looking to add new members and creating a calendar of events that couldn’t possibly leave anyone wanting for things to do. 

There will be more to come in upcoming days, including fantastic contests, online and live classes, and possibly a radio show.

As part of this I want to introduce you to a fantastic contest that simply couldn’t wait.  The amazing adventure I’ve mentioned is called Camp NaNoWriMo.  For those of you that know of NaNoWriMo (aka National Novel Writing Month), this is quite similar.  For those of you that think I’m speaking Orkian, let me explain.  Each November National Novel Writing Month encourages novelists to commit to writing 50,000 words (a short novel) over the course of 30 days.  Camp NaNoWriMo does the same thing, but by allowing participants to choose their own word counts, and assigning them into online support “cabins” with other writers.  For example, I’ve chosen to write 40,000 words this month.  Others, like Rebecca Godina, have chosen as little as 10,000. The point is to commit to writing.  Altogether the Mind Key cabin has committed to write a total of 155,000 words during the month of April.

It’s all about being motivated.  So Mind Key cabin mate, Tamara Rokicki had a fabulous idea to post excerpts of what we wrote each day on our cabin message board for motivation and inspiration.  It worked so well I was inspired to take it a step further.

So each day, our cabin members will have an opportunity to choose one 300 character excerpt written that day for submission into the Camp NaNoWriMo flash contest.  Each day I will post the previous day’s excerpts and ask you, our loyal readers, to choose your favorite.  At the end of the month the writers will choose their best of the best for a final match-to-the-death round.  We will ask everyone who has voted over the month to return and place their vote for the best of the best in this death-match.  The winner gets a week-long blog series on them and their work, plus maybe some other goodies yet to be determined.

So what do you think?  Are you ready to vote for your favorite Mind Key writer and discover some beauty and inspiration along the way?


Let's meet the writers:
Danielle Rose
Charla Dury
Rebecca Godina
Tamara R.
Kim H.

And here's today's excerpts - please click below, and comment on your favorite to vote!
Don't forget to share using the convenient little buttons in the sidebar.
Thanks!

Mind Key Challenge Day 8 is up! Charla Dury won yesterday's round. Please click below and vote for today's favorite excerpt... http://a.pgtb.me/B4XjDX

Posted by Mind Key on Thursday, April 9, 2015