Dear Friend,

Thank you to everyone for your generous comments about this ezine and how it is impacting your life - I always love to hear from you. Here is the latest happenings in my world:

I ended up with a slight cold over the weekend. Now I rarely ever get colds - it has been a couple of years at least. I am such a health-nut - I always aim to get plenty of rest, drink plenty of fluids, eat healthy foods, etc. so that I have a strong and resilient immune system. But sometimes the rhino-virus still shows up unannounced. :)

However, like everything in life, even the things we aren't particularly excited about have something to teach us. If we are open, we can transform any situation, any challenge, and I mean absolutely any challenge, into an opportunity. Consider something as simple as getting a cold. I could have sat around lamenting about how much I hate to get colds, how I hate being sick, how I detest feeling under-the-weather, and on and on, in an endless monologue. Fortunately, I didn't do so much of this (just a little... :) ). Instead, I accepted what was happening. "Oh, I have a cold. Hmmm - this feels quite unpleasant. But I know this too shall pass..."

Now don't get me wrong, as a general rule, all else being equal, I still prefer health to illness. I would prefer a strong and healthy body. However, when I accepted being sick, just simply accepted it as what was arising in the moment, I opened up a door to a whole new world of possibility. Since I was feeling so crummy, I watched two movies to take my mind away from the illness. I rarely ever watch movies, so being sick created an opportunity that otherwise would not have been in my awareness. (I watched Yes Man and Twilight, both of which I recommend highly.) I took the time to sit in my back yard, which is very serene, and catch up on some reading. I took the time to rest. So yes, my body was not feeling well, but the larger part of me was able to transform this situation into an opportunity for entertainment and relaxation.

When we step out of the "like-dislike" paradigm, we open the door to opportunity. When we are able to relax our preferences, if even just a little bit, we allow our awareness to expand, and we discover a world that was previously unavailable to us when we were fixated so adamantly on our preferences.

This brings me to one of my favorite quotes:

Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at will change.

When you find yourself frustrated by your current situation, whatever it is, see if you can relax your preference, just a little bit, and discover the opportunity that is lurking somewhere in the adversity.
I wish for you a week full of opportunity and insight, may you discover the silver lining in every cloud and unleash the power of your true being!

If you get a chance, please post any comments or questions to my blog: www.BreakFreeBeauty.com/blog/. Just click on the "No Comments" link under each post and you can leave a thought or two.

Peace, Love, and Beauty,

Sarah Maria

Your Path is Yours Alone

Your path of life is yours and yours alone. This means that you alone are capable of discovering what will make your heart sing. You alone are capable of finding your way to perfect health, abundant finances, incredible relationships, and success in every area. You alone can traverse the path to your soul; you alone can discover and live a life of transformation and abundance. This discovery is one of the most important discoveries you can make. This one insight will help you unlock the incredible and priceless gems that life has to offer. This one realization will help you discover the greatness that resides within you, and it will allow this greatness to transform your existence.

Now please don't be mislead: your alone-path-to-life is not a lonely path to life. It does not mean that you must fight your way through life's challenges stuck in some solitary plight. It does not mean that you are doomed to suffer and struggle alone. On the contrary, as you discover that you alone are on a path, and that you alone hold the keys to unlock every door, and every gate, that you alone have the tools you need to climb any mountain, and pass through any valley, you will find yourself capable of finding exactly the right assistance, exactly the right support, and exactly the right insight to help you through every phase of your journey.

"Why is this important?" you might ask.

In my experience, we live in a world where everyone is trying to sell you something. Whatever challenge you face, whatever problem you have, there are an infinite number of potential solutions. Some of them will support you, while others will appear to harm you. In the beginning stages of my business, I was exposed to many leading marketers, and here was their favorite slogan:

"Just listen to me. I have done the hard work - I have tried and I have failed. I have put together this step-by-step process that you can follow. You don't have to make the mistakes I made. Just do what I say and you will get results."

In a way, this is the message of all advertising, all sales. This is the message we are constantly hearing in every area of our lives.

There is nothing necessarily wrong with this message. Many times people have gained powerful insights on their journeys, and this can help us on our own journey. Yet discernment is essential. You must be able to separate what is true for you from what might be true for someone else.

A simple way to understand this is by looking at diet. Some people swear by a high-protein, low carbohydrate diet, whereas others claim that being vegan is the way to abundant health and environmental well-being. Which person is right? My answer: both and neither. Sorry to disappoint, but in my experience, it all depends on you and what resonates with your unique path.

Unfortunately, many people live and entire lifetime being tossed to-and-fro by other people's opinions about what is good and what is bad, by what is healthy and unhealthy, by what is right and what is wrong. This is because many people have lost a connection with their internal compass, the internal knowing. We stumble around blindly waiting for someone to guide us somewhere because we lack a strong foundation within ourselves.

Fortunately, with a small amount of time and effort, you can re-establish your connection to your source. As you do this, you will discover the power that you alone have to transform your life. You will learn how to walk proudly down your path of life, knowing you are alone but not lonely. You will discover your ability to marshal whatever assistance you need to help you create a life that you love.

Here are a few of the essential ingredients that have helped me discover and uncover my unique path and transform my life. Give it a try, commit to it for a time. You will be amazed by the results.

One of my favorite quotes of all time, from one of the most influential teachers in my life, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, says:

"Trust me only long enough to experience it for yourself."

After you experience it for yourself, there is no need to trust because you have your own experience as your source of wisdom and insight.

1.) Regular meditation

In my experience, having a regular meditation is absolutely key to connecting with your inner-wisdom and guidance. It is through meditation that we are able to purify the mind so that is stops projecting nasty, unhappy images that show up as suffering in our lives. As you purify the mind, you can more clearly see the beauty and brilliance of the entire universe.

2.) Find a teacher whom you trust

Teachers can be extremely helpful in any and every area of life. Whether you are struggling with a relationship, health, financial crisis - you name it there are guides who can help you along your path. If you are looking to build a business, switch careers, develop spiritually, there are people out there who have already done it and can help you along your path.

When finding a teacher, look for those people with whom you feel an emotional connection. Again, in my experience, our inner wisdom has a way of leading us to exactly the right teachers at exactly the right time. Finding a teacher is not so much about the credentials. Rather, it is a resonance that you feel with a particular person or a particular style. Your intuition knows where to go, you simply need to learn how to better listen to this inner-guidance. Again, meditation is an essential component in helping hone your listening.

3.) Before making any decision, go within.

Practice checking in with yourself before you make in decisions. This is a habit that can be slowly cultivated. As you learn to listen inwardly, you will become more and more adept at hearing life's messages. External information and other people's perspectives can be helpful, but before it is all said and done, check in within and you will gradually learn how to listen to the most powerful guidance.  For more information on decision-making, please check out my earlier article: Effortless Decision Making

Do you want to use this article in your blog or e-ine? You are more than welcome to - please just list my name and website. Send a note to info@sarahmaria.com with a link to where it is posted - it is always great to see how this information is being used! 

Summer Special!

Are you struggling with food and with your body? Are you wishing you felt better about how you looked? Are you wanting to master your eating habits once and for all?

• Are you ready to finally break free from your negative body talk?

• Are you ready to create a peaceful relationship with food?

• Are you ready to discover your inherent beauty and let it shine?

• Are you ready to uncover and experience the love that you are?

If so, take advantage of this summer special. For the month of August, I am offering my complete Introductory Package at a 50% discount. Normally this package is $197, but as a special summer celebration, I am giving it away for $97, a full $100 discount.

This package includes a 3-CD set, a 5-CD set, a stand-alone CD, and three complete workbooks -- all aimed toward helping you to create a body and a life that you truly love.

And because I am so convinced that you can create a body and a life that you love, if you purchase this package at a 50% discount, I will offer you a FREE 60-minute coaching session, one-on-one with me, to launch you on your path of healing, love, and transformation.

Life is way too short to stay stuck living a life you dislike - trust me! Order this package today an and begin to create the life of your dreams.

The Power of Your Child's Imagination
by Dr. Charlotte Reznick

I just found out about a really cool new book for parents. Dr. Charlotte Reznick's authored, The Power of Your Child's Imagination.

The book is for parents, educators and professionals alike, and focuses on engaging the every child's innate, natural resources.

By using their own imagination, children can learn to self-soothe, and eliminate common childhood problems such as nightmares, school phobia, temper outbursts, even insomnia and bedwetting.

Here's a new way to help children achieve (and enjoy!) success in school, sports activities, and other creative ventures.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to fill your own toolbox of possibility!

Receive free introductory gifts at http://www.ImageryForKids.com/book.

Sarah Maria is a body-image expert and teacher who can help you discover the beauty that you already are so that you can create a body and a life that you truly love. Her first book, Love Your Body, Love Your Lifem>, is being published by Adams Media and will be available for purchase in November '09. She combines ancient spiritual wisdom with modern science and shows you, step-by-step, how to pacify your mind, heal your heart, befriend your body, and transform your life.

SheShe has studied with the leading experts in health, spirituality, personal development, and success, including Deepak Chopra, physician Dr. David Simon (co-founder of the Chopra Center for Well-being in Carlsbad, CA), Dr. Wayne Dyer, Jack Canfield, renowned Ayurvedic physician Vasant Lad, and many others. She is a lover of eastern philosophy and spiritual wisdom and passionately shares these teachings that have so transformed her own life.

Before founding Break Free Beauty, Sarah Maria received her law degree from Stanford University and her Master's in International Affairs from Columbia University in NYC. She has lived and traveled throughout Latin America, and has also visited many countries around the world. Her greatest passion is helping people discover the beauty and the greatness that resides inside so they can live from this place of grandeur, transforming themselves and the world. />