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

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