It might seem unreal that writing in a journal could be so beneficial. But the scientific evidence is in, and gratitude journals do benefit you in big ways if you keep one for the long term and use it daily. 

Experience Stronger and More Fulfilling Relationships
It’s so simple, but it can be hard to accept. You are the one who makes yourself happy with your own choices. Another person cannot make you happy or grateful. Only you can do that. But something amazing happens when you express gratitude often – your relationships simply open up and become better. Those that don’t, you start to recognize for what they are and let them go.

Become Physically Healthier 
Being grateful for the ability to move and breathe will eventually cross over into wanting to ensure that you can always do that. Therefore, you’ll be more motivated to go on walks, eat right, stay hydrated, and live in gratitude for every aspect of your life.

Increase Your Mental Dexterity 
The...

I love this time of year. No matter what holiday you celebrate you have to admit it is a magical time. The majority of people are being nice to one another, even though people seem rushed they still try to take time to acknowledge and give to others.

It is a wonderful thing to see. But, what I have always wondered is why people save up their kindness for 1 month out of the year. Why can't we be in that giving spirit year round? Why can't we be kind to each other all the time? Why do we need the sparkling lights and holiday music to remind us to love one another?

I don't know the answer to that. I've been trying to figure it out for years. Share your thoughts.

But  this time of year can also be a tough time for some. Depression increases, suicide rates soar and every December there seems to be at least one parent in our city that takes out themselves and their kids, which is a huge eye opener for all...  for a few seconds. What is it about this time of year that brings such...

Affirmations are statements that we tell ourselves in order to spark self-change. They are designed to alter our beliefs about ourselves such that they are more positive.

“It’s not what you say out of your mouth that determines your life, it’s what you whisper to yourself that has the most power.”   – Robert Kiyosaki

Affirmations are more than just a self-help statements to make ourselves feel better. They can have a significant impact on our overall quality of life. Regular affirmations allow us to become more in tune with our thoughts and the way we think about our self in general.

When we are conscious of our attitudes towards the self, we can make an effort to eliminate negative thoughts. When we become more aware of ourselves, we are able to be mindful of surrounding ourselves with positive things.

The more you practice the more you notice what aspects of your life are most important to you as well as things that may be hindering your happiness.

...

What is Gratitude?
World Leading scientific expert on gratitude, Robert Emmons, states that gratitude has two key components.

First,  “it’s an affirmation of goodness. We affirm that there are good things in the world, gifts and benefits we’ve received.

The second part of gratitude, he explains, “we recognize that the sources of this goodness are outside of ourselves” … We acknowledge that other people, or even higher powers if you’re of a spiritual mindset, gave us many gifts, big and small, to help us achieve the goodness in our lives.

Grat·i·tude
noun

1. the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.
   "she expressed her gratitude to the committee for their support"

So, why do we need it?
The Greater Good Science Center outlined several benefits of gratitude in a paper titled, “The Science of Gratitude” (2018).

• Increased happiness and positive mood
• More satisfaction with...

Three weeks ago we started with our ‘You can Heal your Life’ checklist and finding 3-5 key themes that are prevalent in our lives, basically what our issues or blocks are.  Two weeks ago we looked at Fear, Anger, & Possessiveness, and last week we looked at Resentment, Lack of Love, and Rejection/Abandonment.

Don’t forget to share how your journaling and reading are going. Have you read any great books lately? 

As a quick recap for those who are just joining us, if you go back to Aug 13, 2019 (3 weeks ago) we did a list of symptoms and where we hold our blocks in our body. And over the last couple of weeks we have been discussing some of those themes.

This week we will look at Controlling/Lack of Control, Frustration, & Anxiety and how we can work through those blocks in our life. This week we add Binaural Beats to help us heal.

See last week (Aug 27, 2019) for more information on Tapping. Two weeks ago (Aug 20, 2019) for more information on...

Two weeks ago we started with our ‘You can Heal your Life’ checklist and finding 3-5 key themes that are prevalent in our lives, basically what our issues or blocks are.  Last week we looked at Fear, Anger, & Possessiveness.

Let me know how your journaling and reading are going. Have you read any great books lately?

As a quick recap for those who are just joining us, if you go back to Aug 13, 2019 (2 weeks ago) we did a list of symptoms and where we hold our blocks in our body. Last week we started looking at some of those key themes, and we are continuing this week and into next week with more themes.

This week we will look at Resentment, Lack of Love, & Rejection/Abandonment and how we can work through those blocks in our life. Adding Tapping to our repertoire of healing techniques.

Tapping
Tapping, also known as EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), is a powerful holistic healing technique that has been proven to effectively resolve a range of issues, including...

Last week we started with our ‘You can Heal your Life’ checklist and finding 3-5 key themes that are prevalent in our lives, basically what our issues or blocks are.  So now, what do we do about them?

We have to actually look at them. So the first step in healing is being aware, but after awareness comes the work. Last week I mentioned starting with journaling. How many of you did this journaling work? 

“I highly suggest Journaling as the next step in your healing journey. Ask yourself how this makes you feel, really sit with it and write at least 3 pages  (or 10 min) on how you feel about each underlying theme that has come up in your list. Maybe it’s ‘fear’, write ‘Fear’ at the top of the page and fill three pages (or spend 10 min) with your thoughts on Fear in general, and also in yourself. Just free flow thought. “

I also recommended reading books on those specific topics of the themes that came up...

Louise Hay was a bestselling author and the founder of Hay House publishing. She wrote a book called ‘You can Heal your Life’. I often used used her book to work on specific issues I was having in my life. I would have a sore lower back and I would look in her book to see that equates to Fear of money or lack of financial support. And then I would work on that one issue journaling and meditating on it and doing my affirmations and it might go for a bit but it would pop back up or something else would take its place with a similar underlying blockage or story.

More recently I started to do this check in with myself and my students. Checking in to see where you are at and what you need to work on. This is more of a big picture as opposed to getting stuck in individual issues we may have.

Using Louise Hay’s “You Can Heal Your Life” we will determine 3-5 key themes in your health and what those symptoms are trying to tell you.

First step: Go through the...

Unless we have faced and dealt with the wounds we have accumulated in this lifetime or other lifetimes, our growth can be limited or even blocked. I personally believe that everyone is working through something, some of us more than others. The desire to be happier, healthier, and live a fuller life. 
 
Self-care is the mindset, activities, practices and habits we bring to bear against our stress, unhappiness, illness, depression and many more negative emotions.

Self-care is about giving ourselves relief when we feel overwhelmed, or once we get good at it, before we get to overwhelm. To care for yourself, you need to know your needs and seek them out. The first thing to remember about self-care is that it is not indulgent.

Everyone uses the analogy of putting on your oxygen mask before helping another on a plane, and yet we don’t often believe that self-care is equally important, it is your oxygen mask, it allows you to be able to do more for others and be more alive.
...

Healing with Creativity can be done in many different ways and we will explore a lot of them through different classes and workshops. Here are some key points

Creativity enhances self-knowledge and self-expression.
When we’re creating, we are making decisions about what we like. What colors appeal to us? Which shapes we are drawn to? What textures do we enjoy? What words do we prefer? You may think you don’t have any opinions on these questions, but you do! To create is to make choices; to make choices necessitates paying attention to our inner selves as we assess which elements do and do not please us. 

Not only are we tuning in to ourselves when we create, but we also are expressing ourselves by making an external representation of our internal world.

Self-knowledge and self-expression are particularly important for people living with chronic illness.  Chronic illness changes our identity: The person we become living with an illness is different from the person...