Costa Women Blogs

Discovering the Joy of Life Were you told as a child not to put your hands in the fire, of course you were we all were, we took it as red that it was dangerous and we’d get burnt. However we are taking that knowledge on ‘face value’ having not experienced it for ourselves. What else do we take at face value having not experienced something for ourselves? Life has a way of ‘knocking’ us into shape which is mainly seen as ‘unfair’ ‘why did that happen to me’, ‘what have I done to deserve xy and z ‘and the tendency is to believe that it ‘xy and z shouldn’t happen. And the belief that it’s unfair, or undeserving etc has been instilled in us from someone else’s experience not our own. But the truth is unless we ‘actually’ experience something for ourselves, how can we possibly know anything? Read More

I feel all the time, even if my mind doesn’t think about it. My body senses constantly the environment, my senses receive signals even if majority of them are ignored by my intelligent mind. The mind chooses those signals that for some reason are important to it and ignores others. Why some are important and others are not is contained in a story of my life. Living is learning what is good for me and what is not, what is serving the purpose of survival and what is not, what should be hidden and ignored and what should be noticed. Only that sometimes this knowledge becomes outdated, no longer valid or may be a burden to me, because it makes me behave in a way that no longer serves my best. The mind got stuck to an old memory of an experience, created an idea around it and won’t leave it, and my nervous system created a protective behaviour around this experience and won’t leave it either. It simply will not recognize that the environment has changed, that I have grown and that these new circumstances need a different approach. So how to talk to this stubborn energy system, how to show and prove to it that what was thirty years ago is no longer here. You know my answer: meditation, because meditation drops thinking and gets beck to seeing and sensing the environment as it is now, not years ago and not years in the future, but simply now. And when I can see it as it is, if I can sense it as it is now, if I can be enlightened to the reality, it will be easier for me to shake off all these useless programs and behaviours of the past that simply blocks my life now. That’s why I meditate. It is the shortest and gentlest way to an important change.

We have 31 beautiful and inspiring ‘True Awakening Stories’ from my sacred friends all around the world. My question today is has the energy that has created this magnificent experience come to its end? Or are there more sacred friends out there who would like to join our writing challenge and create a free e-book to share and inspire others to resonate with their own truth of who they truly are? Details of this challenge can be read here, if you feel to join us please contact me. Our Awakening and Integration continues today as we claim all our yesterdays, past/future darkness, fears and struggles… preparing to live a most Enlightened life here on the physical plane in each NOW moment. Many of you know IAM passionate about Mental, Emotional, Physical and Spiritual Health and how important it is to love ourselves… even the darkest of our fears and struggles. This is because we do know in this moment that we have survived it all and as a celebration we can embrace everything hidden and broken for bringing us to this moment. When we can embrace everything about ourselves we are choosing to be our Magnificent and All Powerful Self, being grateful for all our experiences, feelings of fear and struggle and for being given the gift of choosing now to be powerful or not. When we experience dark moments now, let us remember that we always have a choice how to respond to the darkness, the fear and the struggle. We can allow the darkness to continue to blur our conscious awareness and remain playing victim in the Human game of success and failure or we can choose to see this experience as a gift… and choose to be a MasterCreator who is finally ready to create heart and soul desire. When we finally choose to be our Magnificent Self, All Powerful we become the sacred vessel for love, joy and abundance to flow through us. Is it time for you to choose to be Powerful and see the Human game for what it is?  I recently published my book, Your Magnificent Self… A Journey to Freedom that shares my own True Awakening experience… Jeremy, one of my elemental friends that I perceived along the way shared with me the following about the natural transformation of Humankind… ‘The Human physical body and mind is taking a natural quantum leap into its own Divinity. The pure and clear crystalline light of Divine love and intelligence itself is absorbing the physical body and mind and integrating into One Body Consciousness. This natural transformation process causes the physical body and mind to re- structure and re-balance. Old ways and patterns to be rewired and re-written and hidden dark aspects of Self, shaken lose. It makes people feel raw, chaotic and unbalanced at times, especially if they remain unaware of what is happening and don’t realise that this is all part of a natural cycle of change. Many people become unwell and enter the depths of depression. If a person is lucky, the illness takes them into a void, a wonderful opportunity for some quiet me-time, to connect to a part of them self that is pure love and a knowing that everything is OK. With the conscious breath they can expand within themself, feel into their own true nature and be aware of who they truly are’. Please enjoy the following beautiful stories at each of my friends’ blogs… February 1st Barbara – http://memymagnificentself.com 2nd Michael – http://embracingforever.com 4th Ka – http://fiestaestrellas.com 5th Julianne – http://peacockseyes.com/blog/ 8th Edith – http://edithboyertelmer.wordpress.com 9th Gaelen – https://seeingthewhisper.wordpress.com 10th KL – https://amusingspirit.wordpress.com 12th Karin – https://karinfinger.wordpress.com 13th Margo – https://lifeasimprov.wordpress.com 15th Leigh – https://bluegrassnotes.wordpress.com 16th Freda – https://fredapetticoatsadventuresofwakingup.wordpress.com 17th Carina – http://www.discoverlife-liveitnow.com/apps/blog/ 18th Alia – https://newearthparadigm.wordpress.com 19th Kimberly – http://kimberlyharding.wordpress.com 19th Dayna – https://livinglifeinbetween.wordpress.com/ 21st Jill – https://vidanaturalskincare.com/blog/ 22nd Leya – http://alohaleya.wordpress.com 23rd Sue – http://suedreamwalker.wordpress.com 25th Tania Marie – http://taniamarieartist.wordpress.com 26th Mei – https://meiflynn.com/blog/ 27th Sindy – https://bluebutterfliesandme.wordpress.com 27th Linda – http://litebeing.com 28th Laurie – http://lauriesnotes.com March 1st Nicci – https://acceptinginfertility.com 2nd Jenna – https://jennadee222.wordpress.com 3rd Tanja – https://kundaliniawakeningprocess.wordpress.com 4th Jazhael – https://jazhael.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/i-am/ 5th Brooke – https://serpentguide.wordpress.com/ 6th Adam – http://www.truthcodex.com/ 10th Sharon – https://ohweshouldhavetoldyou.com 11th Mary – https://marybmaulsby.wordpress.com 12th 13th 14th   Call to Action I have created a new page on my website to share my sacred friends books who have self-published their own story Awakening, Integration and Enlightenment experience… If you would like to join me, sharing my book on your website… please contact me… Together we can inspire the world. Barbara Franken… Creative Visionary & MasterCreator Inspiring New Energy Consciousness  

Be aware of a story. The moment I realize that I am telling myself a story I know that I am not in the here any longer; I am away somewhere in the past or in the future watching an imaginary film. The moment I am aware of that I can choose: shall I stay in a story or shall I leave it and get into the presence, into the here and now. I have been walking on the beach, enjoying beautiful weather; if I want to have a break from the busy every day, from planning and fixing and remembering what to do the beach is a great place to take such a break, a break from thinking. So I do my walking meditation on the beach. It means that I completely focus on the sensation my body perceives; I hear the sound of waves; I smell the freshness of the air, I feel my feet on the sand, step by step, just soaking in the sensations that this moment is bringing to me. And then my mind sneaks in and after a moment I discover that I don’t see El Mar but a shopping list. My mind is attacking me with its stories: shopping story this time, so I remove myself from it getting back to the cold, grainy sensation of the sand under my feet. But the mind is here again, this time the subject of the story is more alluring; a dress I could buy for myself, I could even look quite well in it and maybe impress some people. This time the story my mind is telling me is very pleasant, entertaining, but I can take a step back from it and see it for what it is – another story. And I have a choice, I can stay with it or I can get back into the here and now. Due to practice of meditation I am in position of choosing. I can easily realize that my mind is talking, and I can decide about the next step; do I want to stay in the story or do I want to leave it. I am in charge. I have more space to roam in. That’s why I love meditation.

Abusive Spanish bank practices: know your rights The rumours are true: Spanish banks are paying compensation to customers with mortgages. If you are a Spanish property owner you have probably heard about so-called “cláusulas suelo” (interest rate floor clauses) written into mortgage contracts with many Spanish banks, mainly between the years 2000 and 2009. These clauses refer to a cap on the amount of interest paid on the loan and have been considered abusive by the Spanish Supreme Court because they kept loan repayments artificially  high when the Euribor interest rate was much lower. What happened? The Spanish financial system has been reprimanded by the European Commission for including floor clauses in mortgage contracts without fully informing clients of the implications of these clauses. Customers are being urged to push their banks for compensation for abusive interest rates. If the client doesn’t ask, the bank won’t give. Since the landmark Supreme Court rulings dated 23rd March 2015 and 23rd December 2015, the Spanish legal system has made it easier to make a claim for compensation by allowing these cases to be heard at the less-saturated local First Instance Courts rather than the overworked regional mercantile courts. It is hoped that each individual case will be settled within a year of being filed. Unfortunately, if you have already filed a case before your regional mercantile court you cannot ask for it to be transferred to the local First Instance Court. Are you affected? If you took out a mortgage with a Spanish bank in the years 2000 to 2009 it is possible that your mortgage agreement includes abusive interest rate floor clauses. The Spanish mortgage lender was obliged to make specific and concrete reference to these clauses in the binding offer, in compliance with transparency regulations. If you believe you were not informed and wish to file a case for compensation, the bank will need to provide evidence that you were fully informed of the interest rate floor clauses. In many cases consumers are receiving reimbursement of monies paid in excess during the time the clauses were in place as well as having the clauses removed from the existing mortgage agreement. What should you do? The law firm I work for is offering free consultations in English. Please fill in this form for more information. What are you waiting for? An estimated 2 million mortgage contracts are plagued with illegal floor clauses. Maybe one of them is yours.  **NEWSFLASH** breakthrough April 2016 decision  A significant judicial breakthrough was announced on 7th April 2016 regarding abusive bank practices. The Court of First Instance nº 11 of Madrid (judicial proceeding nº 471/2010)  passed a judgment whereby 40 Spanish financial entities are held responsible for lack of transparency in imposing interest rate floor clauses to consumers in mortgage contracts. It was a long awaited decision considering that the claimant – the consumers association ADICAE – filed this class action in 2010. Now is the time for individual consumers to sue their banks in case they refuse to remove these abusive clauses in their mortgages and give back the monies received in abusive interests since the 9th of May 2013 when the Supreme Court declared these clauses null and void but only with respect to the three respondent banks parties to that lawsuit. From now on, the whole financial system is considered liable under this new and long awaited ruling (please note, however, that the banks can still appeal this decision). Contact me for more information.

Mindfulness is about connecting to the present. My physical body is always present and it is enough if I pay attention to this presence of my body; to what I see and feel and sense just now. The modern person is quite often disconnected from the body, being glued to a virtual life of imagination and for the most part to an imagination of somebody else. The virtual world is being presented to us constantly, the never-ending stream of pictures, stories and sounds created somewhere by somebody in different time and space, not here and not now.  The overload of good and bad stories, seducing or scaring pictures, energizing or pacifying music – all this takes me away from the now and the here, and it can entertain and inform me but it also drives me crazy. So to stay sane and connected I practice mindfulness. I redirect my attention towards that what I can taste, smell and touch now; I connect to the kinesthetic sense of my body; I feel that I am alive. I experience my existence now. It is so simple just to be. I AM