Dear Friend,

As you know, I have been up in Northern California visiting family for the 4th of July. I have been up in the mountains, north of Sacramento, on some property that my family has owned for generations. As a child, my brother and I would spend every single summer up there, fishing, catching tadpoles, and riding motorcycles all over the countryside. I first rode on a motorcycle when I was 2 years old, sitting on my father's lap. Then I first drove one when I was 10 years old. Now as an adult looking back, I can confirm without hesitation that my parents were completely crazy to allow this... :) My nephew is now 4 years old and rides on my brother's motorcycle. Every time he gets near one, he thinks he has died and gone to heaven. I, having cultivated much more caution as an adult, worry about the safety of someone so young. Then I stand back and laugh, since as a child if anyone had told me I was too young to ride a dirt bike I would have surely orchestrated their demise... sometimes we truly have to laugh at the folly of it all! In all seriousness, though, it was a truly wonderful place to spend the summers and was instrumental in creating me to be the nature-lover that I am today.

One morning while away, I woke up very early, 4 am, before anyone else was awake. For anyone who has a large family, you probably know how busy and noisy it can get with everyone talking, running around, etc. I love the early morning hours to relish the silence and beauty of nature, greeting the new day along with the birds. The early morning seems to feed the contemplative in me, nourishing my heart and soul.

It was in these early morning hours that I sat quietly, sipping my freshly-brewed green tea, and contemplated a nearby pine tree. It is amazing what you can learn from a tree when you stop and pay attention. Next time you wake up early, see if you can sneak outside, listen to the birds, and commit to recreating each day anew.

Enjoy this week's article. Oh, and please check out the offers below. There is a great new book I wanted to tell you about, and...

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Wishing you all peace, love, beauty, and abundance in your life,

Sarah Maria

What I learned from a Tree

So on my family's property there is this pine tree. It is called a Puzzle-bark Pine, although I don't think that is the official scientific name. The name derives from the way the bark forms on the trunk of the tree. Over time, as the pine tree grows, the bark begins to look like a puzzle. There are lines outlining chunks of bark, so the tree literally looks like a puzzle that has been carefully put together. This tree is truly majestic. It towers so high that I can't see the top when looking up - I imagine that it is at least 100 years old, probably more. The branches continue up as far as the eye can see; the pine needles gently fan out from the branches, creating a canopy.

As I sat marveling at this great tree, I realized what a perfect metaphor this tree was for life.

1. This pine tree never tried to grow into a glorious and magnificent tree; it simply became what it was capable of becoming. It simply manifested the potential that was inside of it all along.
   
   Do you ever worry about having enough, being enough, or doing enough? If so, you are not alone. Most of us spend the majority of our waking hours worrying about something. Depending on your roles in life, you worry might sound something like this:
   
   "Do the kids have everything they need?"
   "Will I make enough money to cover my bills?"
   "Did I remember to lock my house before I left for my trip?"
   "Are my children safe from violence?"
   "Do I have enough food to eat? Where will I get clean water to drink?"
   
   These concerns can be very real, and very pressing. When we only listen to the worry, however, we suffer. We suffer because the worry begins to control our lives.
   
   When you find yourself caught in moments of worry, anxiety, and discontent, picture a pine tree, or any object in nature that is beautiful to you. Remind yourself: You are part of nature. As nature grows, you grow. In the same way that this pine tree effortless grew into what it was destined to be, simply by being, so too can you accomplish your dreams and desires by connecting with this same source of being, with this essence of who you truly are.

2. This pine tree is not trying to be anything other than what it is.
   
   How many times have you wanted to be different from how you are? Maybe it is physical: do you want to be taller, thinner, younger, stronger? Maybe it is intellectual: do you feel like your sister or brother got all of the brains and you ended up with the good sense of humor?
   
   I imagine that a pine tree doesn't grapple with this same sense of inadequacy. A pine tree just is. A pine tree is not trying to be an oak tree, and why should it? An oak tree is beautiful and magnificent, but in its own unique way, just as a pine tree has its own unique beauty.
   
   Whenever you try to be other than what you are; whenever you diminish yourself by a sense of inadequacy, you distance yourself from your potential. You distance yourself from the inherent power within YOU. Don't worry, though, this distance is only temporary, because as soon as you remember your inherent beauty, you can shine as the greatness that you truly are, in your unique and absolutely perfect manifestation.

3. This pine tree is perfect; everything is as it should be.
   
   This pine tree is perfect, not because every branch is a cookie-cutter replica of the other, not because everything is aligned perfectly, not because it is symmetrical, or anything else. This pine tree is perfect because it has evolved just as nature intended. The pine tree began as a small seedling, planted in the dirt. It received the proper sunshine and protection, and, established in being, let itself be grown. It let itself be grown by the force that animates the cosmos, and the result was perfect.
   
   Recognize your perfection. Just as this pine tree let itself be grown perfectly, let yourself be grown perfectly. You are already perfect, simply let the universe carry you wherever you want to go.

4. This pine tree is completely unattached to its greatness.
   
   There is no doubt that this pine tree is magnificent. It towers high; it is stable; it is solid; it is beautiful. But I have to imagine that it is not sitting there every day knowing it is great and worrying about whether or not it will remain great. No, it just is. It is great; it is beautiful. Someday it will grow old; it will lose its branches; it will die. It will decompose and become compost for another young tree to begin the process of growing into greatness.
   
   Ultimately, it is all perfect. The young seedling, the majestic pine, the future compost pile. It is all part of the process of life; the great unfolding.
   
   All you have to do is be; discover who you truly are. The rest are details that will be orchestrated effortlessly the more you let go.

There is an ancient saying: "I am That, You are That, and That is all there Is"

There is no difference between you and the pine tree. The only apparent difference is organizational: you are consciousness manifesting as a human being; the tree is consciousness manifesting as a tree. But it is the same consciousness. The same energy that pulsates through the tree, helping it to grow, is the same energy that pulsates through a blade of grass, a bird, or a newborn baby. And this energy exists without effort - it simply is.

As you come to recognize yourself, not only as a human being, but also as the same consciousness that vibrates through the entire cosmos, you can live with effortless ease. You can harness this power, this power that just is, to become and experience yourself as the brilliance and the beauty that you truly are.

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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 Life, 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.

She 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.