I Know Where You Can Get Free Mindfulness Cards...

So I have this thing for oracle cards. Emma was given angel cards for her birthday last year, and I have to admit that I sort of, kind of... stole them. Well, she knows where they are, but I seem to use them a lot more than her. Why do I like oracle cards so much?

I have no doubt that the divine, the spiritual realm, or whatever you want to call it, is constantly communicating with us. Sometimes we are open enough to get the message and at other times, a knock on the head with a hammer is still too subtle for us. When I'm in a spiritually receptive mood -and especially if I have a particular question or seek guidance, I'll pick up the angel card deck. Every single time I do this, the cards help me find clarity. These cards are a great tool to get in alignment with our higher Self.Very often, I laugh my head off because the message I get is so obviously clear!

 For example, about three days ago, I got this spontaneous idea. I wasn't anywhere near the angel card deck at that time. My idea was actually to make my own oracle cards for Conscious Kids (the mindfulness course I wrote this year). I thought to myself "hum, I wonder if this is a good idea? Let me check with the angel cards." Then I thought "It would be really funny if the one card in the deck that says 'Brilliant Idea!' popped up. Well you can guess the rest. I was shuffling the cards and one of them jumped right out of my hands. Yup, it was 'Brilliant Idea!' I laughed, then I realised I had no excuses to put off this divinely inspired project.

Some of you may think it was just coincidence, but for me, the sure sign that something is divinely inspired is that it takes form almost effortlessly. Here I am, three days later, and my 56 mindfulness cards are done, printed and fully available for free download on my website! Badaboom!

So there, if you've never tried oracle cards, you can try these mindfulness ones for free. They are good for kids and grown-ups too. Younger kids can play the game "memory" with the cards -matching the pairs of identical mandalas. By the way, Emma (who turned 12 just yesterday!) drew every single mandala on those cards.

Are you ready for a little divine guidance? Let's see what's in your cards...

All the best,

Lise Villeneuve
www.lisevilleneuve.com

My Obsession Finally Revealed!

Before we moved to Edmonton -almost four years ago- we lived in a small apartment in Montreal and I had never gardened in my life. I was a city girl and I knew absolutely nothing about gardening. I didn't know what I was missing.

Now that I've been gardening for almost 4 years, I can't imagine a life without it! I find gardening to be the most grounding (pardon the pun), calming, nurturing and creative activity! I love growing our own food, it tastes SO much better than what you find at the store. And the best part is that you don't even need that much space to grow plants -just a few pots can do the trick. Any other gardening enthusiasts out there? I thought I'd share a little bit about our gardening adventures this summer through some pictures.

Not only did we have our "regular garden" in the yard this year, but the kids each designed and planted their own gardens on the outside of our fence. I was amazed at their enthusiasm right from the start. They didn't mind digging out the grass even though it was a pretty big job.

Here is the vegetable garden inside the yard in May:

Vegetable garden in August:

Here are the kids' gardens outside of the yard (May and August):

I was surprised by how much the people in our neighbourhood loved the kids' gardens (that are in full view). Some mystery donor left us 4 lovely tomato plants. Two ladies came by with their chairs and started sketching the sunflowers. We called the police. Just kidding. Everyone who walks by comments on how well everything is growing. I love how the morning glories made a wall of leaves and gorgeous flowers all around the garden!

Somehow, the corn seeds I saw at the Dollar Store used their mind control powers to convince me to plant a corn maze on the outside of our fence. It's now getting tall enough for us to hide in it. Soon we'll be able to jump out and scare the heck out of unsuspecting neighbours walking by. I can also go there and curl up in a ball whenever I need a break from the kids -or not.

The weather has been absolutely perfect for the plants this summer -very hot, with a lot of rain. 

Here's Emma in her own personal jungle.

Needless to say, we have a LOT of food this year and just recently I've given myself a crash course on canning, freezing and drying the harvest. Yup, we bought a deep freeze and a water-boiling canner so were are SET for the apocalypse!

 Don't ask why Precious the cat is out there is her pj's.

I had a lot of fun painting these cement blocks one day, when it was about 400 degrees. There's Mitsy who jumped into the picture. She's a kitten we found back in April -the absolute sweetest kitten in the world! Precious (pj cat) hates her, she's SO jealous.

And here is the perfect ending to this gardening love story: delicious homemade goodies (hopefully!) that will last all the way through the winter months. I'm crossing my fingers we don't die from botulism.

We had to make some room for the jars so we pulled up this shelf from the basement. We may need a bigger house once the 15 tomato plants and gazillions of ground cherries ripen! I see a lot of salsa and jam in our future.

So there you have it. That's what I've been up to lately. Now for the philosophical part. You ready? It's deep, oh-so deep. I realised that I went from being a city girl to becoming a city farmer. Yup, it may not sound glamorous, but I'm a conscious farmer and I love it! I'm quite obsessed by gardening, actually. I admit it.

Planting seeds, tending to the garden, harvesting and canning are all wonderful opportunities to be fully in the moment and gently aware of all the mental chatter that may be going on inside. I look forward to practising mindful eating. Thanks for reading! What are some of your favourite grounding / calming activities?

Lise Villeneuve

Creator of Conscious Kids -an online mindfulness course for families

www.lisevilleneuve.com

Are You As Spiritual As You Really Think?

Are You As Spiritual As You Really Think?

I’d like to ask you an important question. Let’s see if you’ll pick answer A or B. Ready? Here it is: Who are you?

A)    I’m a physical being having a temporary experience in a physical world. 

Once my body dies, I stop existing.

B)    I’m a spiritual being having a temporary experience in a human body. I am eternal.

If you picked A, you derive your sense of identity from your body, your mind and your emotions. You see everything and everyone as separate from yourself. You are mainly driven by your mind and you feel the need to constantly look out for yourself and your kin to ensure your survival. You see the world as a competitive place where there is no room for miracles, or divine guidance.

If you picked B, you fully trust in a divine plan. You don’t see yourself as a separate, limited body and mind, but as an unlimited, powerful spiritual being that’s connected to all of creation. You are driven by your heart and you see life as an opportunity for your soul to experience joy, peace, healing and unconditional love. You honour the present moment and are able to surrender to what is.

So which one did you pick? A or B?

You may not consciously think “Who am I?” on a daily basis, but the truth is, the way you answered this question orients your entire life. An “A-type” will experience the world in a radically different way than a “B-type”. For example, if I ask you What is your purpose in life? What is real happiness? and What causes suffering? your answers will be completely different depending on who you believe yourself to be. Which type do you think will experience the most fulfilling life?

It doesn’t even really matter who’s right in the end, A or B, because we know that our thoughts and beliefs shape our reality. But before you pat yourself on the back for being a “B-type”, it’s important to recognize that the vast majority of humans today still adopt the behaviours of A’s: me versus you, ego versus heart, fear versus love and trust, separation versus unity, lack versus abundance, control versus surrender, past/future versus present.  Even individuals who see themselves as spiritual beings in a physical world fall back into the traps of the ego daily.

Why? Because our conditioning is so very strong, and we live in an ego-driven, unconscious world. Individuality and competitiveness are rewarded and the idea that who we are is our limited, physical vessel is constantly reinforced. Success is measured by wealth, power, status and influence, often at the cost of true happiness. The overwhelming influence of this physical, material world constantly distracts us from our spiritual essence. It seduces us into believing that we have something to gain from adopting the “A-type” behaviours of the majority. Unless we make a conscious effort to constantly stay awake and present, we will automatically fall back into the default sleepwalking ego-mode.

Spiritual awareness is like a muscle we have to train on a daily basis. There is no other way around it. It may sound like a chore, but once you start experiencing the benefits of a heart-centered, more conscious life, you will wonder why you didn’t start your training earlier!

If you’d like some tools and resources to help you with your spiritual awareness training, I encourage you to check out Conscious Health –for adults and Conscious Kids –for young families. These two programs are currently available at no charge (for a limited time only).

Wishing you all the best,

Lise Villeneuve

www.lisevilleneuve.com

www.conscious-kids.ca

Why You Can’t Afford Not To Teach Your Kids About Mindfulness...

So you want your kids to be happy, successful and balanced individuals who contribute positively to society. If you’re reading this, chances are you’re already an excellent parent. You do everything you can to ensure your kids will get a good education, you sign them up for all kinds of activities such as sports and arts, and you make sure they are well socialized. Correct?

Ultimately, we all want our kids to be happy in life. Oddly, most of us assume that helping them develop their talents, intelligence and social skills is enough to ensure a happy, balanced life. It’s not. Are we happy as adults, or does our happiness depend on our circumstances? What is real happiness? What will your kids need to DO in order to feel joyful, content and at peace?

Here’s the problem. The key to true, lasting fulfillment and contentment is not found in doing, but in being. Everything we are doing for our kids is good, but it’s not teaching them about true happiness –in fact, it’s teaching them that happiness can only be found outside of themselves, by trying to meet society’s current definition of success. Is our society happy, or deeply unconscious?

Here’s the good news. You CAN teach your kids about true, lasting happiness directly. You can give them the necessary tools to stay grounded and empowered in this chaotic world. You can help them understand and self-regulate their thoughts and emotions. You can increase their awareness and show them how to tap into the joy of being, even when external circumstances are less than perfect. You can help your kids remember that true happiness comes from within. That’s the purpose of mindfulness. It’s the most direct path to a truly happy, balanced, successful and empowered life.

You can start teaching your kids about mindfulness today! Conscious Kids is an online course written specifically for kids and their families. You really can’t afford NOT to teach your kids about mindfulness because if money is an issue for you, there is even a way to earn your access to Conscious Kids for FREE.

Wishing you the very best,

Lise Villeneuve
Creator of Conscious Kids
www.lisevilleneuve.com

Your Child (or Inner Child) Is Asking This Question Now...

Dear grown up,

Why do I sometimes feel sad, worried or even angry, while other times I feel happy and peaceful? Do I have any control over the way I feel, or do my emotions just happen to me as a result of what's going on in my life? What creates my emotions, and how can I feel good most of the time?

Your child / Inner child

Dear child,

The answer is YES, you CAN have control over how you feel most of the time, once you understand that your THOUGHTS create your emotions. This simple knowledge has the power to change your life! If you'd like to know more about this, check out Conscious Kids, Lesson B. In the short story called Suzy Meets Skittles The Squirrel, you'll read about a girl who feels overwhelmed with negative emotions. You'll see how Skittles helps her to notice her negative thoughts, then you'll have the chance to do a fun activity that will help you to understand this important lesson. Blessings to you and your family!

Lise Villeneuve

Creator of Conscious Kids

I Need Your Help! Vote For Conscious Kids!

So...to make a long story short, Conscious Kids (the mindfulness course for children that I wrote this year) has sort of taken off lately! It's very exciting! Today, I just found out that I got selected in this contest held by a Law Firm in Edmonton to win funding for Conscious Kids (like $10 000 to help me promote it and develop it!) How AWESOME would that be?!

You can increase my odds of winning simply by voting here (until June 17th, 2016): http://fieldlawcommunityfund.com/idea/help-get-conscious-kids-online-mindfulness-course-children/ . Please tell your friends and family too! Thank you in advance for your help, it means a lot to me!

So how did this happen? Sort of "by chance", like everything in my life! First, someone asked me to sell them a license to teach Conscious Kids on Vancouver Island. I thought this was a fabulous idea, but then I needed a lawyer to help me write a licensing agreement. So, one night I was searching the internet for lawyers in Edmonton. Although most of my family members are lawyers, they are waaaay too busy and I didn't want to bother them. Good thing I didn't, because it allowed me to find this contest, the Field Law Community Fund! I spontaneously wrote my entry that night, thinking it was a long-shot. Well, today they told me I qualified! I didn't think my entry would be posted on the internet and I wish I could have edited it a little, but oh well! By now I know that I control very little in this life. Let's see where this ride takes me!

Thanks again for voting!!

Lise

Two Tough Critics Review Conscious Kids...