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The Awesome Power of NO

December 15, 2015 By Ahmed Hassan 2 Comments

Last week I walked by a table out in front of someone’s home where they were giving away old Christmas decorations. There was a big sign that said “Free Stuff Merry Christmas.” Nothing on this table was truly appealing to me except for some gold 8” letters that spelled out NOEL. I took the free letters and promptly threw away the E and the L.

I smiled at the word NO. I thought about what a wonderful word NO was and for the past few days I’ve been ruminating over today’s blog post. The Awesome Power Of NO is life changing in itself. Growing up in a society where so many, including myself subscribe to ascension and positivity, the word no is truly a path altering word.

I first heard about Codependency and Co Dependence Anonymous when I was nineteen years old. Codependence Anonymous or CODA is another 12 step group for people like myself and so many others that suffer from a behavioral issue acquired through child development and into adulthood. Simply stated, we are people pleasers. Our value and worth come from outside of ourselves and from others, hence the word “Co”.

We are depending on others to love us and make us feel worthy. Others to accept us and make us feel part of. We’ve taken something so simple as love and respect and learned to get this from outside of ourselves, rather than create it from our own internal source and capabilities. Codependency behavioral traits are very similar to what we commonly refer to as compassion. This means that many human beings will relate to several of the behavioral traits of being codependent, because human beings (at least in my opinion) are compassionate by nature.

Nonetheless, the Power of NO.

ahmed-hassan-no

No is both powerful and necessary.

At 42 years old, I’ve learned to utilize NO with others in order for me to say YES to myself in other areas and aspects of my life.

NO- I will not leave my house this weekend. (I have things that I want and need to do at home that are important to me.)

NO- I will not buy fast food. (I have more respect and concern for my health and have prepared by bringing fresh fruit and healthier snacks when I leave for work.)

NO- I will not continue to buy plastic bottled water because I understand the implications and detriment on a global level.)

NO- I will not except a person talking to me in an utterly disrespectful tone or utilizing harsh words in communicating with me. (Meaning I will find my center and articulate when necessary so that the energy between myself and others does not escalate in such ways.)

The word NO is a word like NO other word. It ceases whatever momentum that might have been developing and stops it in its tracks. NO on the one hand allows a YES on the other hand. In order to advance in any one direction we must cease movement in another direction. NO allows us to do just this. The awesome power of NO is a power that each of us needs to learn and become proficient in exercising in our lives.

NO is how we take care of our individual selves. NO is how we stand up for ourselves and NO is what we must learn in order to say YES, ABSOLUTELY and I AGREE to what we truly desire. I’m of the opinion that our intuition, our gut and what many refer to as “GOD” directs us. We often know what works for us and what doesn’t.

We often have that gnawing feeling on the inside that directs us and assures us with all that we need in order to be happy whole and complete. What we’ve gotta do is simply get clear and courageous with both our YES and our NO. Both are equally beneficial and often a NO to you is how I say YES to loving and taking care of me. So practice this holiday season. Practice saying NO to what you simply do not choose, in order to say YES to what you do.

Thanks for sharing and caring. If you’re interested in learning more about Codependency, find a CODA meeting near you.
Pia Mellody is a leading author of several books on Codependency and healthy relationships. Check her out when you have some time.

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Filed Under: Philosophical Rants & Analogies Tagged With: Ahmed Hassan, Ahmed Hassan Personal Appearance, Ahmed Hassan TV, Celebrity Landscaper, holiday season, Landscaping, life, personal growth, sustainability

The Season of Abundance

December 23, 2014 By Ahmed Hassan 7 Comments

Everything in life is cyclical. As a gardener, I know this oh so well. Just yesterday my general contractor buddy William Rogers was asking me about the difference between annuals and perennials. I explained that Annuals grow from seed, are established, and live their entire life cycle in a single year. Sometimes they’ll weather over and last for several years. When that happens it is primarily because those plants aren’t true annuals. They are perennials disguised as annuals.

Celebrity Landscaper Ahmed Hassan Bedding Plants

Me giving a demonstration on different bedding plants

Perennial plants, on the other hand, are plants that typically grow, and last, for a minimum of 3 years. They bloom for a season, then survive a couple of more seasons doing minimally okay, but they do last. These are the kinds of plants we typically do our ornamental landscaping with.

Then there are biennial plants. These plants take an entire year to develop, then they bloom only every other year. Plants like Fox Gloves, Trillium and Holly Hocks are all biennial. You might also like to know that cabbage, kale, brussels sprouts, carrots, and even celery are biennials. We typically harvest these plants and eat them in their first season, which is why we never see their flowers.

I share this with you because as a gardening philosopher I see all of life as cyclical. Our moods and feelings shift just like the weather.  I once remember Tiffanie saying that Oregon, with it’s gloomy, wet, foggy, and overcast weather, was the suicide capitol of the US. I thought , yeah, I could see that! Then I Googled it and found this was not actually the case. Oregon was merely number 12, not number 1. How could that be?  All of the rain and overcast gloom, there has to be something to it right? There must be some connection between depression and the weather.  As it turns out, there is. Take a look at this information from Wikipedia…

“Environment variables, such as the amount of sunlight, occurrence of natural disasters, and the inability to protect and shelter oneself, can result in suicidal behaviors”. Parasuicide, which is the strongest known indicator for a future successful suicide attempt, is known to have a strong association with weather patterns. As noted by Barker in their 1994 article on seasonal and weather factors in parasuicide, “A major finding of this study was…the greatest mean daily number of parasuicide episodes in late spring/early summer and a trough in December/January”. Their approach involved developing a linear model to accurately separate any “seasonal effects and seasonally-related weather effects”. Climate factors affect parasuicide differently in women and men. The data indicated that the meteorological factors to account for large parasuicidal effects in women were maximum temperature, rainfall, and cloud cover. On the other hand, rain, cloud cover, poor visibility, and windy days were the most important meteorological factors in men. These findings state that elevated levels of environmental heat have been known to “produce thermal stress causing physiological and behavioral change, which may predispose a person to parasuicidal behavior, or precipitate parasuicide in someone already considering it”.

Translation… weather does affect our mood. Throw in the holiday season and it is affected even more. We need to find a way deal with those feelings. I spend a lot of time thinking. It’s one of the reasons I so enjoy gardening. For me, gardening is a moving and productive meditation. It allows me to float, and allows my thoughts to remain fluid, drifting in and out as they please. It also allows me to move and keep my endorphin production going. I’ve used gardening and landscaping as my medicine when I first lost my dad 20 years ago.

My last blog talked about him and I paid homage in my own way to his memory and legacy. My topic for this week is the season of abundance and I’m talking about how things are cyclical because It’s what I notice in both nature and society. Duhh, we’re all from nature and we all make up this society. I share my thoughts so that others can also relate and know that they are not alone.

Just like the plants that I mentioned have various growth stages and cycles in which they produce , we as humans experience a similar shift according to our environment. I’m no meteorologist or psychologist but I do enjoy researching and learning about the ways in which nature affects us all. I spend most of my life teaching and creating in the realm of beautiful outdoor living spaces.

It has been said that cleanliness is next to godliness and I mean who doesn’t enjoy an aesthetically pleasing space? I know I feel best when things are clean, neat and organized. I also enjoy the process of designing, working, building, and creating so that we can get there. The journey is part of the fun.

So I encourage you in this season of Christmas and abundance.

Take note of what you’re thankful for.

Do something nice for someone else, something that contributes, something that “gives”.

I know it’s cold and snowy in some places, so give thanks that you have a warm and cozy house to call your home.

Maybe you have extra blankets and clothes that you can donate to the homeless or less fortunate. The best way to step up out of your depression during this holiday season is to give to others.

This has nothing to do with shopping at Target or buying people gifts. We all have an abundance. We need to merely skim off some of our excess and create balance with nature. There’s a cyclical time for everything, just look at her.

She is our greatest teacher.

Ahmed

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Filed Under: Aesthetics & Gardening, Philosophical Rants & Analogies Tagged With: Ahmed Hassan, Celebrity Landscaper, christmas, christmas season, depression, holiday season, holidays, Landscape, Landscaping, life, Organic, Plants, Seeds, sustainability

DIY Crossfit at Home

November 12, 2014 By Ahmed Hassan Leave a Comment

Fall is officially upon us and you are no doubt getting your house ready for the holiday season. At least I know that’s the case here in the greater Sacramento area. This is an awesome time of year for getting your exercise regiment on as well.  Some of you may be aware of a relatively new type of work out known as “Crossfit”. If not, this video explains it.

Today’s post is an opportunity for you to understand Crossfit and create your own regiment at home using your surroundings, particularly your landscape and garden. You had to see that coming right? Let’s take a look at a few things you can do to incorporate Crossfit at home.

1. Watering Your Plants
If this sounds familiar it’s probably because I made a whole post on caring for indoor plants. We all know that plants need water to thrive. Well why not benefit from that watering yourself. Here’s how.

Find yourself 2 equal sized containers, fill with water, and get to watering all of those plants. Start indoors and keep your containers full as you scoot around the house. Then begin with things outside. Always remember proper body mechanics and to focus on exhaling (N’amaste y’all). The human body will always automatically inhale. I’m not saying that you have to get dressed up in your work out gear but, proper, comfortable shoes and being mindful of what’s comfortable physically will make your home grown workout more productive.

If you don’t have 2 matching watering cans, simply use 2 matching jars or cups. Remember the more cardio involved with your back and forth, the more of a work out you’ll receive.

 

Celebrity Lanscaper Ahmed Hassan - Two Watering Cans

Fill these up and carry both while watering your plants for a great cardio workout!

2. Spread Mulch?
Fall is always a great time of year to replace old mulch with new. Much does a couple of things for your landscape. It serves as a natural weed control through suppression. The less light that reaches the soil the less likely you are to have weeds. Mulch also keeps your plant roots warm during the winter. Your plants will fair better from impending frost damage, and your yard will look beautiful too. Makes sure you have an adequate amount of mulch put down this season. 3-4 inches is ideal, but be careful and use sparingly right close to the stems of your plants. Too much near the stems will cause an excessive amount of moisture there and rot the plants. Think of the roots and cover the plants shoulders, but don’t strangle the neck/stem.

A simple way to incorporate Crossfit is to use bags of mulch. This will cost you more than buying it bulk, but you will get a work out at the store, loading the bags in and out of your ride. Then, at your home, the workout continues as you walk and disperse it through out your garden.

A variation would be to use 5 gallon buckets with handles (you can also use recycled plant buckets). Any 2 of the same sized containers will work. They keep your weight of material balanced and assist you with not over working or straining yourself too much.
Finally, don’t forget about gravel. Gravel is considered to be an inorganic mulch. It’s generally a lot cheaper then paving stones or brick, and it bumps up the weight a bit for your Crossfit workout.

3. Windows and Wash Down
Clean windows speak volumes about your home. Make sure that the window cleaning products you use are the least toxic for both yourself and the environment. Find natural cleaning solutions online or simply use a mix of vinegar and water if you like. It is all natural and makes a great cleaning agent. Then use some recycled newspaper or some clean paper towels and your ready to get your Mr. Myagi on. Wax on and wax off!

Home improvement centers offer great environmentally friendly products that attach to your garden hose, making application easy and quick. This could even turn into washing the outside of your home. Removing spider webs, and getting things cleaned up before or after the holidays always sounds good to me. Of course this all depends on your available time for these household chores, er-I mean Crossfit! Remember, stay focused on what’s truly doable and save the rest for your next work out.

Celebrity Landscaper Ahmed Hassan - Fall Leaves

Raking leaves makes for great exercise!

4. Rake it out!
Raking leaves is not only a popular task for the month of November in California. I’ve been told that leaves fall from other trees around the country as well. Having a good flexible rake  is the perfect DIY Crossfit tool! The flex rake is a great dual purpose rake for everyday clean-up outside, and the Larger lightweight leaf rake from Fiskars is ideal for large leafed trees and The Celebrity Landscapers Crossfit get down.
When your’e done with your raking, I suggest you break out the blower and dust things off a bit.

Beyond these suggestions, there are probably an endless list of things you can do to create your own DIY crossfit routine. A couple of weekends of elbow grease will go a long way toward making your landscape and home look beautiful, while you reap the benefit of feeling better.

I’m Ahmed Hassan and I practice what I preach.

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Filed Under: New Trends & Ideas Tagged With: Ahmed Hassan, Celebrity Landscaper, crossfit, DIY, exercise, fall, holiday season, Home, Landscape, Landscaping, mulch, rake, raking leaves

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