Un P'tit Poème en Français Pour Faire Changement...

For some reason, these words came to me in French tonight. They describe a typical day at our house. If you don't understand French, that's ok, you're not missing that much anyway! :)

Un doux baiser me tire du sommeil

Je crois qu'un ange a frôlé ma joue

Tandis que je flotte entre le rêve et l'éveil

De petites mains me chatouillent le cou

Mon réveille-matin a déjà sept ans!

Il est pressé de commencer sa journée

Je le retiens, je l'embrasse un moment

Quel bonheur que de se retrouver!

On passe doucement à la cuisine

Là où s'affolent deux chattes affamées

Mesdemoiselles se lèchent et relèchent leurs babines

Alors qu'on prépare le petit déjeuner

Le soleil éclaire notre salle de classe;

Le salon, la cour, la ville, la Terre

Je fais apparaître du café dans ma tasse;

Mon carburant de choix pour explorer l'Univers

Les enfants sortent leurs livres, crayons et cahiers

Parfois encore dans leurs pyjamas

Heureux d'apprendre, curieux et enjoués

L'école est un jeu, une tombola

Les leçons terminées, la nature nous appelle

Le ciel est bleu, l'air est enivrant

Dans le jardin dansent mille coccinelles

Sur des champignons hallucinants

Les jours sont simples, les jours sont doux

Ils savent bien vivre, les enfants

Le coeur ouvert et prêts à tout

Ils savourent l'instant présent

Oui, ils savourent l'instant présent.

Lise Villeneuve
www.lisevilleneuve.com

What A Crappy Morning...Literally!

I didn't get much sleep last night. I was woken up by a mysterious crash at about 3am (probably the cats having another wild shooter party on top of the China cabinet.) Anyway, I couldn't get back to sleep until about 7am, and when Theo pulled me out of a very strange dream, the first thing he said to me was "Emma says something's wrong with the toilet." I just figured the chain was tangled or something minor like that, until I pulled open my drapes and saw the sewer truck working in our back alley. Oh-oh. When I opened my bedroom door, I was greeted with a real, genuine, overwhelming smell of 'eau-de-toilette' that permeated the entire house.

The bathroom door was closed by the time I got to it, Emma had made it "off limits." I peeked inside, only to find dirty toilet water sprayed everywhere. Yuck! (and the seat was down!) What made it even worse was that my bladder was about to explode. I checked the bathroom in the basement and it was the same scene. Yucky sewer water everywhere. Crappy. Crappy, crappy, crappy. We've had a similar issue in the past, the sewer line workers are required to use low pressure. But they obviously didn't!

I called the city and they told me someone would call me back...eventually. So I shamelessly went out to the truck in the alley (yes, in my pajamas, with my dragon breath and crazy morning hair) and told the workers about the pleasant situation in our house. Yup, I told them "my house smells like s**t, my toilets are overflowing, and I need coffee. Now." Well, maybe I didn't use those exact words, but all they could say was "sorry."

So back to the house I went, knowing that it was going to be one of those days. There was breakfast to prepare, I had to get the kids started on their schoolwork (we homeschool), Emma had her first Musical Theatre class in a few hours, I still had to pee and the house was a smelly disaster. Then the city called back to say "sorry". I told them I would send them the cleaning bill. Of course, that means filling in a damage claim form, yadiyadiyada. I probably looked a little bit like the woman in this picture (with worse hair, pajamas and a fuller bladder).

But then something in my brain happened. That's quite surprising pre-coffee. I remembered a particular mindfulness card that I had written and included in my deck of 56 cards just a few weeks ago. Yup, those cards are back to haunt me. This one basically said "if you can't change a situation, you might as well relax and surrrender." I took a deep breath and just let go of the anger, the frustration and the stress. Then I smiled to myself, thinking that if the damage claim goes through, at least I will have started my day by making $100 for washing the bathrooms. Not bad, right?

The whole ordeal was stressful, but somehow, we got everything done. The kids ate their breakfast on the front step -where at least it didn't smell like a sewer- while I pulled out the sexy latex gloves. Emma and Theo promptly did all their schoolwork, I sent in the damage claim, and we even made it to Musical Theatre class on time. The only thing missing was my coffee, which I got to enjoy even more than usual later in the day. Did I mention how sparkling our bathrooms are now?

All the best,

Lise Villeneuve
Creator of Conscious Kids
Get your free deck of mindfulness cards here.

Nobody Ever Taught Me THAT In School...

School's back in full gear for many of us. Believe it or not, every morning when I wake up, I feel extremely grateful to have the opportunity to home school my kids. I'm not going to lie, we don't like being rushed in the morning! We're now starting our 5th homeschooling year and I feel like we're really starting to get the hang of it. We know what works for our family, and we're more confident about this alternative way of life.

In anticipation of all the people who will be asking the kids 'What school do you go to?' this year, I think we will just call ourselves L'Académie Francophone Villeneuve-Carver. Sounds legitimate, right? That should at least reduce the number of awkward conversations with cashiers who think homeschooling is only for hillbillies. But hey, this post is not really about homeschooling. It's about the Art of living.

I wish that someone had taught me about the Art of living a happy, fulfilling life when I was a kid! I learned plenty of practical, interesting facts in school and University, but like the majority of us, I had to figure out the  most important questions on my own: What makes us truly happy? What's really important in life? What can we do on a daily basis to create a fulfilling and meaningful life? How do our thoughts matter? Where's the nearest Starbucks? Good, you're still paying attention.

The bottom line is, school didn't teach me that happiness is a choice I make every day. Did it teach you that? Maybe I just went to bad schools. Lol. I just felt like I had to go to school and things were largely out of my control. I never knew that I was creating my reality with my thoughts. I didn't know that my emotions were my inner-compass and that I could wilfully move myself up the vibrational scale of emotions. Nobody ever taught me that I would eventually get what I focused on, even if I was focusing on what I didn't want! If I had known these things, I would probably have felt much more empowered and confident. Thankfully, times have changed and these notions are now becoming more widespread, even in some schools.

Back to homeschooling for a minute. One of the things I love about it is that I can sneak in some of these 'Art of living' notions when challenges come up with the kids - because they always do- especially during school time! When the kids get frustrated or discouraged, I can immediately intervene and help them become more aware of the thought patterns that are creating their negative emotions. This helps them keep things in perspective, and it may prevent really bad habits from eventually forming. I can remind them to focus on what they wish to reinforce in their lives.

Education is super important, and it becomes even more powerful when it's combined with a growing self-awareness. As their teacher, I get to practice teaching mindfully each day, and that's a real gift!

Here are some of our rules at L'Académie Francophone Villeneuve-Carver:

Teachers:
1. Thou shall stop teaching immediately if you are unable to give loving, compassionate energy.
2. Thou shall stop teaching your lesson if there is no sense of joy, play and wonder in it.
3. Thou shall remember: your energy sets the tone. Be in the moment. Breathe.

Students:
1. Happiness is a choice you make every day. You are in control.
2. Your thoughts create your emotions. Choose your thoughts wisely.
3. You get what you focus on, so focus on what you want, not what you don't want!
4. You are the creator of your own reality. Your intentions are powerful.
5. Negative emotions tell you you're out of alignment. Raise your vibration!

Wishing you a wonderfully mindful school year!

Lise Villeneuve
Creator of Conscious Kids -downloadable mindfulness stories & activities
Get your free mindfulness card deck here
www.lisevilleneuve.com

You Have Arrived. You Are Home.

Take a deep breath. 

Stop.

You have arrived. You are home.

 Be still. 

Quiet your mind. 

You have arrived. You are home.

 In this moment, there is nothing you need to do. 

Nothing outside of yourself can create the peace that is already arising naturally within you now.

Release all tension. 

You have arrived. You are home.

 Breathe. Relax. 

Open your heart and trust that all is well.

You are loved. You are beautiful.

You have arrived. You are home.

 Smile. Be grateful for all your blessings.

Inhale. Exhale. 

Notice any thoughts that come and just let them go.

You have arrived. You are home.

Surrender to the perfection of this moment.

Breathe deeply.

You are connected to everyone and everything.

You have arrived. You are home.

Whenever your life circumstances pull you out of the present moment

Remember : You have already arrived. You are already home.

The joy of being is already inside you.

Don't search for it somewhere in the past or the future.

You have arrived. You are home.

Lots of love,

Lise Villeneuve

www.lisevilleneuve.com