Happy New Year! I hope that your holidays were warm and wonderful and that you enjoyed some time of rest, play and connection with loved ones. January is a wonderful time to reflect on the past year and to set intentions for the new year. How will you create your best year ever? I am a big believer in the power of intention. I recently read that those of us who write down our intentions are at least 50% more likely to receive what we desire. Wow! That’s very encouraging. In January I love to return to the VISIONING practice that invites us to meditate and create a vision for our lives that includes asking the following questions: What is the VISION for my life? … continue reading
Year: 2016
For Pain Relief – You Might Ask Yourself- What Am I Avoiding?
If you, like me, live with chronic pain, you might want to ask yourself – what am I avoiding? Is there someone you are avoiding seeing or speaking to? Are you putting off an important health care appointment? Where in your life are you procrastinating? Are you pushing yourself and avoiding rest? What is the last thing you are willing to pay attention to? OK, confession time. As I sit here at my desk, gazing out at the humming birds zipping in and out of my garden this morning, I am looking at the piles all around me on my desk and, once again, putting off (procrastinating!) doing my filing and organizing. Ahhhhh… I know that the stuff is taking up space in my consciousness. … continue reading
Feeling Angst?
“In this video, I’m going to show you how to use Tapping to access the deepest parts of your brain that have been limiting and sabotaging your success. I’ll also show you how you can access your brain in ways you’ve never been able to before, finding more creativity, more energy, more productivity, more of the REAL you in every way! All those things that have been holding you back before today, all those limiting patterns, that self doubt, those unconscious childhood traumas and overwhelming emotions… those aren’t the real you! They’re just old programming that has held you back from becoming the full expression of who you really are.” Nick Ortner This week I am moved to share with you a … continue reading
Calming Down the Fight or Flight (or Flee) Response
This week I thought we might practice calming down the stress in our lives. There is plenty of scary stuff happening in our world and maybe not enough reminders to slow down, breathe deeply, move mindfully and ask for support. Ahhhh… Causes of Stress The flight or fight response in the body is an automatic function designed to help us survive when we are in danger. When every day experiences keep firing the stress response our immune system is impacted, which can lead to fatigue, insomnia, depression and illness. I believe that we always have a choice about how we respond to life. As we move into the fall and winter months, give yourself permission to slow down, nurture … continue reading
Restful Sleep & Sweet Dreams
Are you having trouble sleeping sufficiently? Is lack of sleep effecting your quality of life? Does grumpiness get in the way of your JOY? I hear you! So many of my clients express their difficulty with sleep – either getting to sleep or getting to sleep and then waking up and not being able to get back to sleep. Ahhhhh… Here are several suggestions to improve the quality and quantity of your sleep – leading to peaceful rest and sweet dreams. 1. Turn Off the TV – To improve your sleep, you might consider improving your sleep environment. Clear your bedroom of your TV or other distractions, including computers, work materials, and any noises and bright lights. Research also suggests that TVs and computers generate electromagnetic … continue reading
How Bundling Baggage Heals the Past
One of the first tapping techniques I learned years ago was called the Personal Peace Process. It involved making a list of all of the events, relationships and circumstances from the past that you want to heal. Then tapping on one item each day, until you have reduced the intensity on it all. Ahhhhh… And then I learned a much quicker and more effective way to heal and release the past called Bundling Baggage. We’ll practice this in class together this week and you can practice this on your own as well. 1. Choose the topic for your tapping session – an illness, a relationship, an event, such as an accident or a big disappointment. You might even choose your childhood or past relationship for … continue reading
Self-Care for Caregivers
IT’S ALL ABOUT BALANCE No one wants to ignore their loved ones when they need support and it’s simply not healthy or practical to completely ignore our own needs either. This week I worked with three different clients who are caregivers. One taking care of a spouse, another helping with her 90+ year old mother-in-law and another young person taking care of her grandmother. All of us will be called on, at one time or another, to be a caregiver for a loved one. This can be one of the most challenging responsibilities we ever take on. I don’t have children, however I imagine that caring for your own children is different, although filled with it’s own challenges, than caring for a parent or spouse. … continue reading
Forgiveness & Letting Go of the Past
We are all affected by the world around us, as well as our own thoughts and beliefs. Sometimes the world feels like a scary place and we are not sure how to respond or maintain our balance. This week I want to share some thoughts on forgiveness with the hope that these suggestions will help you return to your center, open to wisdom, insight and clarity and gain peace within. Ask For Guidance to Healing When centering in Meditation, you might ask to be guided to a memory from the past that will assist you in your healing. Trust where you are guided and work with that information with tapping, journaling and in forgiveness practice. EFT tapping is very effective to help us re-imagine and … continue reading
Centering and Quieting Your Wandering Mind
I’ve had conversations with several folks recently about their challenges with quieting the mind for Meditation. Ahhhh… Somehow we think it will be easy to center ourselves and be quiet – resting our bodies and minds. That is not always the case, as you may have noticed. I’ve heard from several of my students that they are able to settle when we practice together in class or in a private session and not so much on their own. There is a definite benefit to practicing with a group or with a teacher to guide you. That is how I learned to meditate and that’s why I love to teach and practice with y’all. I thought it might be helpful to remind you of the simple … continue reading
The Simplest Way To Quiet Your Mind
When my mind just won’t quiet down, I turn to humming or chanting to help relax, calm down and quiet the thoughts. It’s fun. It’s comforting and healing and it works! You can simply hum for a few minutes before sitting in silence. You can chant Om. You can chant the Loving Kindness chant. You might sing your favorite song. Really, it all works. The sound and the vibration is very comforting and relaxing to the body and your mind will ease up and become quiet. Ahhhhh… When you’d like to add an additional feature to your humming, you might practice gently sending the hum down into your body. You might place one hand on your heart and one hand on your abdomen and imagine that the sound is relaxing and aligning your organs, muscles, … continue reading