My son and I covet books, often each other’s. We hound libraries, beg to own each other’s books and haunt second-hand bookstores for treasures that can be found there.
I will share some of my all-time favourite classics for those of you still reading to your own children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews or borrowed ones.
The first full-length child’s “novel” we read “chapter by chapter” was Casey, the Utterly Impossible Horse. Clayten was four, and after that, we left Dr. Suess, Disney picture books and the Golden Books behind. We bought chapter books at garage sales, second-hand bookstores and always had one on the go. We laughed through Roahl Dahl’s BFG, and I won’t tell you what my adult foul mind imagined the acronym BFG standing for. Dahl’s book Matilda came alive and made us cheer for the heroine in that story before Danny Devito and Rhea Perlman ever hit the big screen with the movie. C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia gave us months of pleasure and in-depth discussions on metaphors and underlying meaning when he was six and seven. Consequently, his comprehension skills far surpassed all of his peers. His first and second-grade teachers raved about his ability to sit still and listen to stories, repeating the content almost word for word.
Our all-time favourite was Elizabeth Winthrop’s book Castle in the Attic. Now that was a book that guaranteed miracles. Clayten was very strong-willed to the point of it being a daily war to convince him to eat breakfast on most school mornings. Like most children, asking him to put his toys away enough to vacuum his rug on weekends also became an ordeal. A promised extra chapter in any current book was like offering free gold to a poor man.
It also meant that we both sat down amid hectic-ness for 15-20 minutes of quiet entertainment. Not to mention that carefully chosen books embedded with subtle morality lessons helped me convince him of many things without being a heavy-handed parent.
Books became my ticket to easy parenting. I only tried withholding a bedtime story once due to undesirable behaviour. I never again was so foolish. That resulted in a tantrum full tilt for destruction, the likes I had never seen before and never witnessed after that.
Books were the one constant that Clayten and I could rely on as a bridge if we were at odds with each other. Discussion starters, morality builders, door openers to the world, zoos on paper and history lessons that went beyond reading. The topics became subject material for long drives and our walks to school.
Sound perfect? Well, except for one thing. In grades one and two, being at the top of his class in comprehension did not spare him the discomfort and frustrations of delayed reading abilities. Experts on child literacy cite early picture books as an essential reading stage for literacy development. Deciphering 2-5 lines of black dots and squiggles on picture book pages defied him.
Sixteen years after he crawled into my lap with Dr. Suess Put Me Into The Zoo, I can still recite the first eight pages of that book by heart. That was the first book he ever sat still for. He was 20 months old. After that, books were magic. They could dry tears better than a pacifier. Change a mood faster than Alberta weather. Books could see morning chores done in a jiffy if that meant there was time to read an extra chapter before school. We once were both so enraptured with Winthrop’s book that we read it while walking to school, Clayten guiding my footsteps if there were obstacles on the sidewalk. We both yelled aloud when William used the medallion in a way we never imagined. Winthrop deserved the multiple awards her book won.
Cultivating A Reading Habit for Yourself
Now, how can you train an adult to read? You can’t unless you are the adult you want to train. We can only change ourselves. How do you create a reading habit for yourself?
First, you need to have a why for motivation. If any of you are familiar with the book Miracle Morning, Hal Elrod mentions the acronym SAVERS. Each letter stands for the habits of successful people.
S - Silence
A - Affirmations
V - Visualizations
E - Exercise
R - Reading
S - Scribing
These are the top things in common with the most successful people in the world; most of them do all six things every morning. You can listen to the podcast/YouTube with Elrod interviewing one of my favourite people, Dr. Mindy Pelz.
If that fails to rev up a reason for you to develop a consistent reading habit of non-fiction, one of the following may inspire you. You can also use my reading habit of five to ten pages of non-fiction in the morning. Much like you eat an elephant or accomplish a big goal, one bite at a time and break up the big goal into manageable steps and processes.
My favourite book on the emotional and mental aspects of the various common illnesses is by Dr. Gabor Maté. His chapter on the good girl disease of breast cancer blew my mind when I was going through chemotherapy in 2003. I still like saying the longest word I know that I learned from his book: PsychoNeuroImmunoEndocrinology meaning that every emotion and thought is a biological chemical event in the physical body. When the Body Says No, The Hidden Costs of Stress. The rest of his chapters were excellent and highly readable.
My favourite book on writing is by Dorothea Brande: Becoming a Writer. Written in 1937, she is brilliant on how anyone can become a writer with practice. Watch this short Ted Talk on how this speaker debunks the 10,000-hour myth, says you can learn anything in 20 days, and then demonstrates his skills at one thing he tackled and learned well.
My second favourite book on writing and the resistance we all face when creating something is by Steven Pressfield, The War of Art. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott will make you laugh out loud about the travesties and joys of writing. I could go on. Just ask me if you want more of my favourites.
My favourite book for simplifying your life (bonus, I have three here that I read in tandem that inspired my last blog on “Living for Less, Relaxing More.”
An interesting science trivia book that is quite readable and will provide valuable tidbits on a wide variety of subject topics for random conversations is David Bodanis’ The Secret Family.
A classic on the manifestation of health and wealth is As A Man Thinketh by James Allen. It uses archaic language, but don’t give up on it. I believe it may be more valuable than Wallace D Wattle’s book, Bob Proctor's work on The Science of Getting Rich, or even Maxwell Maltz’s book Psychocybernetics, which I reread occasionally.
My current night read is a memoir of a Morrocan woman about her mother and five siblings imprisoned for twenty years. Malika Oufkir’s La Prisonniere: Twenty Years in a Desert Gaol. I know it isn’t fiction. Memoirs can read like fiction and be fascinating.
Debbie Ford’s The Dark Side of the Light Chasers is my morning non-fiction read for self-development.
I enjoy fiction or a riveting memoir at night, reading every genre except horror or nightmarish content. Our brains are more receptive to taking in knowledge when we first wake. We all have 365 mornings a year. At an average of 5-10 pages a morning and the average book at 200 pages, we can polish off 18 books a year in digestible bites that enhance retention. Often, when a book is inspiring, I will read more. You can think about, absorb, apply and insert into conversations in your day, riff off your learnings for your blogs or social media, further cementing your new knowledge deeper.
Reference links in the body of the story above:
podcast/YouTube Elrod interviews Dr. Mindy Pelz.
Dorothea Brande: Becoming a Writer.
Ted Talk debunks the 10,000-hour myth Steven Pressfield
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
The Circle of Simplicity: Return to the Good Life by Cecile Andrews
Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin
The Joy of Not Working by Ernie Zelinsky
David Bodanis’ The Secret Family by James Allen.
Maxwell Maltz’s book Psychocybernetics
Malika Oufkir’s La Prisonniere: Twenty Years in a Desert Gaol.
Debbie Ford’s The Dark Side of the Light Chasers
Learn more about Rusti:
Rusti L Lehay, a global editor and book and writing coach, created over 40 articles guiding writers to authordom. Witnessing writers find and speak in their own voice to serve the real boss, the audience, not the editor, is one of Rusti’s greatest joys. She offers bi-monthly online writing STAY-Treats and monthly lounges and teaches weekly creative writing classes. Her primary mission is to inspire, provide value and make writing fun and easy.
Links:https://msha.ke/rustilehay.info
Click here to sign up for the Friday Writing Video Challenge delivered every Friday morning to your inbox.
Click here to book a discovery chat with Rusti.
Click here to join the weekly Monday co-working Zoom space. We complete stuff!
Nine years ago I quit my stable corporate job to pursue my dream of becoming an entrepreneur.
My job wasn’t fulfilling me anymore and I needed more! I wanted to inspire and empower. I wanted to make a difference & an impact.
But what I didn’t realize then is that I wasn’t quite ready for that YET. I hadn’t grown into that person YET!
THERE WERE SO MANY STEPS TO TAKE TO GET HERE.
I came face to face with my fears and so much resistance. I questioned my abilities, my beliefs and my worth.
It was a battle between staying inside my comfort zone and expanding and growing. I felt so much fear..
Fear of failure
Fear of being rejected
Fear of getting it wrong
Fear of being seen
And through my journey.. my ups and downs.. my wins and lessons, here’s my biggest lesson:
You might have an amazing service or product but when you overlook your ENERGETIC ALIGNMENT, your INTUITION, your EMOTIONS, your MINDSET, your FEARS and HOW YOU SHOW UP, you will find yourself stuck and struggling. Your business will plateau and you’ll be frustrated and lost.
When you start looking inside yourself, connecting to your soul and the energy of who you are you start releasing and letting go of what holds you back.
You know..
- The self-doubt and second guessing (Can I do this?, Who am I to do this? Maybe this isn’t for me?)
- Saying yes when you really want to say no (Wanting to please everyone)
- Criticizing yourself (There is no way I can do this! I’m not good enough, confident enough, knowledgeable enough)
- Comparing (What are others doing, maybe I can do that too or there is no way I’m that kind of person)
- Being paralyzed by fear (letting it consume you and lead you)
I see you! Cause I went through it, ALL OF IT!
It was definitely a process but I learnt every step of the way.
It’s what I needed to move my business forward because..
YOUR BUSINESS WILL ONLY GROW AS MUCH AS YOU DO! (Read that again!)
So as I was feeling resistance, doubt and fear I started putting together a method to help me move past my limitations and stepping outside my comfort zone so I can connect to my authentic self and my inner wisdom.
This method helped me grow into the successful soulful entrepreneur I NOW AM and helps me and my clients every day.
HERE IS YOUR SOUL MISSION:
Take an honest look at your business (and your life) and ask yourself:
Is there an area that feels stuck? Take some time here and go through what is not working for you. Write it down, have the courage to look at it and acknowledge it.
Start looking at how you show up - what is your state of being:
How is your energy, your emotions, your thoughts, your habits and your self-talk. Are they working for you or against you? What and how are you holding yourself back?
Check in with your beliefs: Where are the cracks in your belief system? Ask yourself, what do I truly believe about myself and my business? Do I believe I deserve and am worthy of being successful and fulfilled?
We have a tendency to not want to look at the dark shadows within that are holding us back from living the life we truly want. It’s looking at these that we shift the energy that we project and start attracting what we want.
Take some time, reflect on the questions and have the courage to be honest and truthful about what you are feeling and thinking. The only way to change anything in your life is to be aware. That is your first step - Discovering the Self. Bring awareness to what is really going on so you can make the changes you need to find joy and fulfilment in your every day!
I am cheering you on!
Much love
Rachel xo
Rachel Benton is a Licensed Life & Embodiment Coach and a ThetaHealing Energy Practitioner. She helps women step into the essence of who they are so they can build a business in complete alignment with their truth, intuition & integrity and guides them to create a soulful life that FUELS and IGNITES them!
Rachel is also the branch director for Happy Healthy Women - Cambridge (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1761666377428793)
Connect with her today:
Website: https://rachelbentoncoaching.com/
Instagram: @wildroserising
Psst... We are being watched!
Is this surveillance disrupting or even disposing of our intuition? If the answer is either (or both), can this most powerful of human gifts be retrievable?
Spies and cameras are everywhere. Alexis and Siri sell us things we just mentioned. THEY are listening all the time. It feels like we don't even have to search for something but when you do, you can bet and win you will see Facebook ads pop up the next time you log in matching your recent search or offering related items.
Shop on Amazon for books, anyone? I believe Amazon is stealing our intuition, interrupting the flow of universal wisdom with its clever algorithms. When you buy one book or even just look at one, the A.I. Bots quickly add, “You might be interested in these titles."
In my early 20s, I picked up a book that made no sense to me. Despite that, in my nomadic years, I moved it with me every time. Although I failed to match my sister's transitory life, I came close enough to distinctly remember several times sitting with a box in front of me, choosing which books made the cut. Each time I would look at this one book, assess its value, peer inside, and read a few lines…still struggling to make sense. It felt like I was trying to parse a code language that offered no gateway to understanding. Ordinarily, I would leave a book that didn’t immediately grab me on the shelf, put it back on a garage sale table, and walk away free of remorse. I regularly go to libraries and let books draw me in for no good reason, no predictable patterns. Same with CDs and oh, how I have discovered authors and artists to thrill my senses and imagination.
Yet, every single time I packed up my stash of books, trying, unsuccessfully, to read and resonate with the words, I still couldn't part with this book. It came with me. It wanted me. I wanted it. It waited for me to be ready.
In my mid-40s, two decades of moving, five lovers, and multiple trysts later, it fell off the shelf when I removed another book. I took them both to the couch with my cup of tea and a deep desire for stillness and tranquility. In that magic space, I learned I had been too much of a bisy bakson to glean its message in previous years. It was only when I slowed down to a stall, shunning my natural ways, molding myself to ease the comfort of the palindrome (my lover at the time), that I could see myself in the pages of Benjamin Hoff's little book, The Tao of Pooh, with cute images at the beginning of each chapter. I had previously been a bisy bakson. I would become one again after leaving the palindrome to reclaim my inner extrovert, just with more passion, more selective of where I put my energy, and finding my life purpose with a lot more balance.
In Hoff’s book, Christopher Robin posted the following sign all too often:
GON OUT
BACKSON
BISY
BACKSON
The palindrome loved criticizing 'Bisy Bakson' people.
Hoff’s book The Tao of Pooh uses Tigger, Piglet, Christopher, Winnie, and Eeyore to illustrate the principles of Taoism. I finally began to grasp and understand the text. Now while I'm waiting for The Chi of Piglet to want me enough to fall off my shelf, I wonder how will we ever trust we are finding our own way in this rapidly hypnotized world? Does it make any sense to you? How can we honestly say we are making our own decisions? Think about how we burn more calories sleeping than watching TV, making it the perfect method for hypnotizing the masses.
Guilt trips, propaganda, and the silencing of alternate views exist regardless of which side of the fence you fall (or choose). Being one who fasts from news, I confess to wondering if the mainstream media is programming us to hate the people who are not complying with the status quo.
Does it make any sense to you that brothers stop speaking? One brother trusts his sources of information and the other his. Their opinions are so diametrically opposed, they won't listen to each other. My handyman tells me his story, too, of broken connections. My own eldest sister did not want her son in her house due to his different views. Thankfully, she has softened. Young children fall between the cracks on each side of the freedom line. As if children need one more instability and inconsistency from the people who are to love, protect, and guide them.
Both sides seem to be choosing freedom and security based on the findings they trust. Both sides feel strongly connected to how they arrived at their decision. While we all wait and hope for the pendulum to stop swinging wildly from one side to the other and find the middle capital T truth, do we stop to consider that the difference between a pendulum and a wrecking ball is minuscule?
Fear is an incredible, albeit negative motivator. Fear motivates people on both sides of any coin. I have learned never to underestimate how fear is a mighty powerful means of control.
In the midst of all this controversy, do we invite our loved ones to open dialogue? If family members are silencing and rejecting other family members, where is the chance to speak openly for either side and for both sets of ears (and hearts?) to be open and listen? What happened to the ‘agree to disagree’ philosophy that can nudge us back to love? Where else in history did a leader choose the way for a country and take measures that allowed only one way to be promoted and spoken about and spread in the media? To me, that provides significant grounds to pause and reflect.
Think about the past two-plus years and the meaning of Remembrance Day. What do we remember? Are there too few or too many who forget the methods employed in the second World War?
Hate crimes escalate, with fear and doubt existing on both sides.
Are we lost? Are we hypnotized? Are we cut off from our intuition? Is our intuition retrievable? If we have allowed recent events to split families, experts, communities, and nations, what do we need to do to mend and return to love?
I suggest we need truth-tellers, open conversations, and a willingness to listen!
If you want to delve into writing your truth in a way that invites open dialogue, let's chat. Everyone's opinions count. Yours are as important to you as mine are as important to me.
~Rusti L Lehay
Reference link in the body of the story above
Click here for The Tao of Pooh
Click here for a book you might like to read. More Than Meets the Eye, Watching Television Watching Us by John J Pungente
Learn more about Rusti:
Rusti L Lehay, a global editor and book and writing coach, created over 40 reference articles guiding writers to authordom. Witnessing writers find and speak in their own voice to serve the real boss, the audience, not the editor, is one of Rusti’s greatest joys. She offers bi-monthly online writing STAY-Treats and monthly lounges and teaches weekly creative writing classes. Her primary mission is to inspire, provide value and make writing fun and easy.
https://msha.ke/rustilehay.info
Click here to sign up for the Friday Writing Video Challenge delivered every Friday morning to your inbox.
Click here to book a discovery chat with Rusti.
Click here to join the weekly Monday co-working zoom space. We complete stuff!
Click here to sign up for a newsletter offering the best and strongest tidbits and resources for writers.
Discover the POWER of CHANGE that is possible with using hypnosis and other hypnotic techniques to suggest change to your unconscious mind.
I’ve been a Hypnosis Teacher and using this with my clients for over 5 years, and while some might think it’s woo-woo, I’ve seen some massive changes in attracting clients, being courageous and leaping into change and so many more things including attracting money!
I hope you are curious enough to read to the end.
Why use Hypnosis?
Let me explain about your unconscious mind:
Here’s a few things I’ve seen happen:
*YES we are infinite creators and when we clear the filters, it also creates a clearer path to open and receive from your higher self and that wisdom, that is there to help you, is what creates inspired action that creates BIG BIG BIG results
When I personally let go of my old significant past events and trauma, I could go back to the old event and it was neutral. Using these tools have been profound in helping me get over fear of leaving my job, heart break, mission building and most recently losing my mom. My healing has been remarkable.
When you let go of the old, realize that this also makes BIG space in your brain to rewire new thoughts and take new actions (it’s so much easier to go create things when you no longer have that fear in the way).
The Official Definition of Hypnosis:
All Hypnosis is SELF- Hypnosis!
YES you read that right.
A few other important things to know:
Hypnosis is documented as being used as early as 2000 B.C. in ancient Egypt and India where people would gather in caves and receive ‘healing’ suggestions. YES this powerful practice is that old.
While I can’t say it will heal you I will say I have seen some healings, truthfully they blew my mind too. Your mind is POWERFUL and there is an expression that your unconscious mind is your body.
Other things about hypnosis:
*You will always hear my voice and are in a relaxed state (my clients LOVE hypnotic tools because you are out of your thinking monkey mind so it’s QUIET)
*You are always in control (if you don’t want to participate you won’t). People who walk around like farm animals at hypnotic stage shows DECIDED with free-will to participate in them, and are typically extroverts and are ready to play FULL OUT! This is probably the biggest misconception that is out there. YOU always have control :)
*You are in control of your results (if you don’t want to change you won’t) and if you are ready for change YOU WILL! If for some reason you want to send your partner to me for their annoying habit, realize they have to want to change.
What is Hypnosis Good for?
Hypnosis is great for self-esteem building, trusting yourself, seeing your inner beauty, inner power, building your connection to your higher self and taking actions in your business and relationships that might make you fearful to think about them right now.
I hope this has been helpful! What’s your biggest learning?
Reach out to me today to book a call and learn more!
Cynthia Roemer is a Feminine Power Coach & Spiritual Mentor
She is trained in unconscious mind tools such as NLP, Hypnosis, Time Line Therapy and a Teacher of Magnified Healing and Hypnosis
It Made Me Think…
Someone asked me this question, knowing my love for the archaic form of communicating by letter. Yes, I still write snail mail. I also love epistolary books, a fancy word for a book made up of letters, either written by one person who tells a first-person narrative of the writer’s life or compiling an exchange of letters. I let my mind play with the question and the blog below, an excerpt from my memoir, is what landed on the page.
So you may want to write without knowing what or how to begin. You know that something needs to come out, or maybe you need a business card on steroids, aka, a book, but you are stalled at the blank page. I do far more than tell you to write. I guide you to fill that blank page with ease. Take a thought that makes you ponder, like the title of this blog. Question and play, imagine and create. No one can create your stories, share your truth, and tug your imagination into prose or poetry the way you can if you choose. Below I launch into my own story after a bit of speculation and fantasy. I hope you enjoy this fusion of genres.
How WILL People Communicate in 50 Years?
In the years leading up to 2070, factions split, each defining their means of communication. Professors will project thoughts into students’ minds, a million terabytes a second. Yogis will argue that breath, long and short variations emanating peace, will suffice, filling the blanks of any communication needs. Labourers will stick to grunting, prodded by the machines that still cannot match the manual dexterity of the human fingertips.
The Eyes…
There will be a band of women. There will always be women banding together, who hold their heads high, no tech neck for them. They will always know how to communicate with a look. They always have. Take, for instance, the mommy look (fur baby mamas can use this one except for Jack Russell terriers who ignore all disciplinary measures), the endearing look, the come hither look, the seductive glance, the gaze into the essence of the other…
Women will teach their daughters, and when we wield the only power that matters, the currency of kindness, we will be the western woman who changes the world as the Dalai Llama predicts—spreading true feminine power, the vitality of the Goddess across the continents. We will gather men who know the energy of kindness and the integrity of equitable relating. We will gather the women who have been genitally mutilated, the women forced to hide their power behind a burkha, under a hijab, the women afraid to bear a daughter into cultures of subjugation, and the woman born or living afraid anywhere.
We will teach about the power of a purposeful commando flash full of intention and how every woman needs red lingerie. We will introduce the charisma of Flash Fridays. We will link hands worldwide, locking up our yonis to those who would go to war seeking to control what they define as others with fear.
Okay, so it is a myth from the ancient Greek play, Lysistrata. But for a moment, imagine the power women wield when they commit to a pact to withhold sexual privileges from their menfolk to force them to conclude the Peloponnesian War. Reluctant at first, women seal the deal with a solemn oath around a wine bowl, Lysistrata choosing the words and Calonice repeating them on behalf of the other women. It is a long and detailed oath in which the women abjure all their sexual pleasures, including the Lioness on the Cheese Grater (the oddest name ever for a sexual position).
What if future women communicate with a firm look? No more for you if you insist on marching off to war? Women will rise if you insist on using fear for control instead of love as an invitation.
Power of Words
Sadly, people mistakenly view this mythical play as a comedy. Am I hopeless for believing all writing such as this offers a message and is far more than entertainment? There is tremendous power in how we use words. Actions are even more powerful. We have more strength and ability than we realize when facing injustice, tragedy and perceived or actual inequality.
Women, I beseech you. In the next 50 years, rise up, and not in protests or withholding but in owning your sacred power. If only I had stood up to my son’s father when he shamed me for going commando, flashing him, aiming only at him, for his viewing from across the room. I angled my chair and spread my legs only when I caught his gaze, just as Cosmo suggested. On my left, Ray Carriere, his friend and co-worker, would have needed exray vision and a periscope with angled mirrors to witness my ‘invitation’ to Korby. (Later rejected with an extra scoop of scorn.) What was he so angry about? Did he think I offered up my precious yoni to anyone but him?
I didn’t though I wished 95 times, at least one wish for every month of marriage the church later annulled. He never knew how I wanted the rules that contained me in the laws of monogamy to disappear. Not because I wanted to be an adulteress. I wished for an affair to prove my body was normal and that his once-a-month dry push into my sacred centre was the cause of the burning pain. His mode of release never once fulfilled the sacrament of marriage.
He didn’t deserve my yoni. After him, my yoni gasped in pleasure with the plumber’s deft touch. The philanderer didn’t deserve it either when he uttered his scathing comment that burned away my desire to voice an invite to play with toys. Did any of my lovers deserve my sacred oasis years?
Women, if in 50 years, we haven't communicated to our lovers how to honour our power and collaboratively build humanity up instead of tearing others down… If we haven’t taught our daughters, modelled for our sisters, shared with our nieces to hold, releasing only when it is their time to blossom of their own free will… If we haven’t taught our sons to embrace, learn, cherish and empower the way of the mindful woman warrior goddess, we will have failed His Holiness, the Dalai Lama and the future.
What are you doing with your words?
Use your words, and tell your stories, so other women know they are not alone, as I was in a marriage that was more abuse than a sacrament. Know this: when words used ethically fail, it is not you. It is time to move on.
We must succeed as a unit. For us all to rise, we must reach out for each sister’s hand. Celebrate each other. Hold each other when there are tears. Listen to the words we speak and those we whisper or plant on the page. Sometimes it is you that needs to speak or write them. Sometimes it is you that needs to listen. Walk with me. Walk with each other.
A draft excerpt from my memoir, To the Sons of Angry Mothers: Owning My Mistakes With Men, will be launched in Spring 2023. If you want to try your hand at writing, receiving feedback at the moment on marketing, biz writing, or any genre you choose, or write yourself free of past traumas or blocks, try out the three-hour Writers’ Lounge every month on the second Saturday.
~ Rusti L Lehay
Learn more about Rusti:
Rusti L Lehay, a global editor and book and writing coach, created over 40 articles guiding writers to authordom. She offers bi-monthly online writing STAY-Treats and monthly lounges and teaches weekly creative writing classes. Her primary mission is to inspire, provide value and make writing fun and easy. Special guest speakers at her STAY-Treats are amazed to see the writing they can do and accomplish in the events.
Links: https://linktr.ee/rustilehay
Click here to sign up for the Friday Writing Video Challenge delivered every Friday morning to your inbox.
Click here to book a discovery chat with Rusti.
Click here to join the weekly Monday co-working zoom space. We complete stuff!
Click here to sign up for a newsletter offering the best and strongest tidbits and resources for writers.
Today’s mom is full-time in the work force and full-time in the role of mom. Often struggling to make ends meet, many moms are still nowhere near earning the true value of what they give of themselves each single day. Moms want more money to invest in family, themselves, and their passions, yet many moms struggle with their beliefs around money.
Whenever I begin energy work with moms, the heart chakra is imbalanced 100% of the time. This is where most moms have a tower moment with me and confess their disappointments, resentment, anger, guilt, and disenchantment with life. What’s more amazing is that every mom will then apologize to me for telling me how they really feel. While moms may have more freedom than ever before, they also feel weighed down with more responsibility and expectations than ever before; having to consistently and constantly “hold it together” for everyone they feel responsible for supporting.
Most moms have a strained relationship with themselves. They yearn to be happy and care-free with their kids, and their partners. They want to feel confident and be desirable. They want more time to do the things that fulfill their deepest passions. They want to feel whole again.
Every time a mom shares her story with me, I’m so amazed by her resilience, strength, and compassion. My mission is to reflect those often-overlooked qualities back at the wombman before me. That first glimpse into her Divinity is the catalyst to the journey before us as together, we return to the cradle of life that infinitely supports us.
Moms are master manifestors.
Not only are we blessed to bring forth life, but we are also well-equipped to birth realities as is our divine birthright.
Every mother can identify with these pain points, as they are pain points her mother and her mother before her.
She is the mother that will remember who she is. She is the mother to heal her generational story. She is the mother that will empower the generations that follow.
I invite you to recognize her and embody her in our work together. 1-1 coaching with me is the portal to your divine embodiment.
Yes! To more abundance
Yes! To Soulfully aligned living
Yes! To womb wisdom and wholeness.
I also invite you to unpack it all with me and your sisters in our 5D Mom 5 Day Reset. It’s free to join and it’s here for you to expand your reality into true abundance and bliss, guilt-free.
We got this mama.
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Dorothy Knight is an Author and Spiritual Coach. Her coaching programs have helped hundreds of clients heal unresolved trauma and embody their full potential. She is passionate about empowering her clients towards self-mastery, illuminating the way to fulfilling their soul mission with passion, purpose, and play. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Dorothy got degree in Journalism New Media from Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning. After that, her path shifted into holistic health, and she received her teacher training in yoga. Dorothy is also a certified Reiki Master, Ohana Generational Healer and Conscious Parent Educator. As an author and Soulpreneur, she travels and teaches in some of the most beautiful places on Earth. Dorothy is still a “stay-at-home mom,” running a successful 7-figure business and writing books. Dorothy is the Director of the HHW Burlington Branch. She currently lives in Burlington, Canada with her husband and two children. Website: https://www.5dmom.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/5dmom/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/the5dmom |
Love is arguably the most sought after emotion we seek at some point throughout our lifetime. Yet, often times we find it difficult to align with, and at times, love can even seem elusive.
I truly believe that our life experiences serve a purpose to help us learn, gain insights about ourselves & to evolve. I also believe that we will continue to have common experiences in life until we've learned what we were meant to learn, thus empowering us to deliberately break the cycle that entraps us into a loop.
Photo by Brian Lundquist on Unsplash
When it comes to love, there are so many variables in play, before we unite with our soulmates or our true loves. Some we have no control of such as the circumstances and others we have total dominion over such as self-love.
When we understand how the Universe works, that we are all energy, we know that we have the power to attract whatever we attune our vibration to. If it is the vibration of love that you successfully align with, then you'll see signs of love everywhere around you & in different forms.
Photo by Ileana Skakun on Unsplash
Thus, if we choose to attract love into our life, we must be love & spread love into every aspect of our lives starting with unconditional self-love. Relearning unconditional self-love will take conscious ongoing effort but will eventually become your state of being which feels easy & peaceful. In our journey of unconditional self-love, it's important to support yourself with acts of love, take up a hobby that brings you joy or take part in activities that you love. The goal is to surround yourself with loved ones & the energy of love. When you constantly give, receive and create more love energy into the world, the Universe will respond with more of the same for you.
May we all love & be loved.
Blessed be.
Photo by Khamkéo Vilaysing on Unsplash
Thể Oanh pronounced like Tey'One or Oanh 'ONE' for short, is an Oracle who serves as a Spiritual Guide, Image Consultant & Multidimensional Transformation Coach. She helps her clients gain unwavering confidence to consciously create a balanced life they love by becoming Spiritually aligned, looking sophisticated & feeling sexy. Do you feel inclined to get one on one guidance to help you take your life to the next level? Book your transformation coaching session today: https://theonecoachsolutions.com/clarity-and-confidence-blueprint/
Oanh is Vancouver's new HHW Branch Director.
Connect with her today:
www.TheOneCoach.Solutions
IG: @The.One.Coach.143
I saw this quote by the awesome Brendon Burchard on Instagram today that I LOVED, really resonated with, and felt called to share:
"When you are standing in your full power, you are not a complainer."
Ohhhhh Friend! This sparked so much for me as I thought back to the days where I used to BATHE myself in a Victim Mentality. Ever been there? Maybe you're like: "I'm there right now and everything sucks". If so, you're not alone - but you should definitely read on!
A victim mentality refers to a state of mind in which a person feels helpless and as though the world is against them.
I was DEEP in this. So deep, that I would sit at my little pity party for one blaming this, that and all the things for why my life wasn't going as planned. As you can imagine - the only things that ever came of those days were more friction and frustration. Then - I got coaching, did some personal work, and learned how to shift that mindset into one that empowers me. That's when things opened up and everything started working IN my favor.
Here are 6 big things I learned that helped me make the shift...and a little further down, a resource that you'll love if you're feeling the need to step into a more empowered state as well.
1. Being a victim is a LEARNED HABIT that most of us grow up with.
2. There are many ways to be a victim, and if we do it in one area of our lives, chances are we do it in others.
3. To break free of the Victim Mentality takes work, and requires an attitude shift - but it's certainly possible.
4. Being a victim is not our natural way of being. It is not abundant, life-giving or free.
5. Victim Mentality is something we accept for ourselves and we can decide to live by a higher standard.
6. As long as we accept it, there will be those out there accepting that we are the victim as well, and strengthening our victim mindset right along with us.
The thing is, if we are comfortable in the Victim Mentality, we will use it so many ways when it comes to our physical, mental and emotional well-being. It becomes a crutch that actually hinders our growth.
The good news is - overcoming it and stepping into an empowered state will serve you, your relationships, your health and your business SO much more.
Oh, and that resource I promised you: One of my favorite pieces from Dr. Wayne Dyer that gives a simple way to start de-victimizing yourself. Take 5 minutes to listen to this and feel instant freedom - The Art of the Shrug.
In Happiness & Health,
Natalie Colalillo
Founder & CEO Happy Healthy Women
Instagram: @happy_healthy_nat
My thoughts instantly shifted. My heart started to BURST with joy in knowing that this is what we are here for. This is what we have always been here for. This is what we do best. This is Happy Healthy Women.
As I shared these findings with our leaders, we spoke of our movement and all that we are doing to help women across the globe step into all 6 of those. We spoke about the fact that we are all needed more now than ever before. We stepped into even greater collective power.
I write this here because if you have committed to serving women in any way that relates to the above and also NEED more of the above, we invite you to lock arms with us.
As I have said time and time again, yes, we are a networking group...but we are so much more than that.
If you're curious as to what stepping into leadership with us looks like, and want to understand how it can help you and your business, we ask that you fill out this form and we will book a call to discuss.
There is a force so MASSIVE that is moving this mission forward, and there's a place for you here.
In Happiness & Health,
Natalie Colalillo
Founder & CEO Happy Healthy Women
Instagram: @happy_healthy_nat
Fact sources: fortune.com, canada,ca, rbc.com
One day a number of years back I was out for a walk and I happened to catch my reflection in the window of a store … it stopped me dead in my tracks! My 1st thought was “holy SH*T! How did you walk out of the house looking like that? You look awful! That top makes you look gigantic! And seriously…what’s up with your hair?” And the dialogue in my head went on and on.
I bet this has happened to you too. Why do we speak so unkindly to ourselves? Why do we, dare I say it, always feel that our bodies are not good enough? What if I told you that there’s ways to be a little kinder? Would you be willing to give it a go? Let’s talk about the 5 top ways we are unkind to our bodies and how we can put a stop to that NOW!!
Comparing – Cruel to Kind
Look at her! I’ll never have a body/hair/eyes like hers! We do this all the time…we compare ourselves to other people…especially if we are on a weight-loss journey. There is a big difference between admiring another person and comparing yourself to them. Think about the beautiful models you see on the front of a magazine...think about your favourite athlete; it’s their JOB to look like that! It’s our job to admire them not be them.
When we compare ourselves to others, we automatically set ourselves up for disappointment. The next time you find yourself comparing, try Reframing your thought. That might sound like “Look at her! I might never be a super-model but boy do I have gorgeous eyes!” Reframing allows us to look upon our thoughts with a more positive and gentler attitude.
Deprivation and Binging – to eat or not to eat? That is the Question!
Perhaps the most unkind thing we can do to our bodies when we are on our healthy living journey is to not fuel our bodies with good and balanced nutrition. It has been proven over and over again that diets don’t work! Let me say that again a little louder! DIETS DON’T WORK! No matter where you are on your journey you must always approach your nutrition from a place of kindness. You can not be kind to your body if you are depriving it of food or if you are consistently over-indulging.
Get rid of the diet plans! Throw out the diet books masquerading as cook books! Cancel your memberships from diet loss programs! Honestly all you need to do to be kind to your body is to eat the best fresh foods your budget can afford. You need Power Foods and Pleasure Foods in your diet (More on that next week!). You need to eat when you’re hungry (see my next post where we talk about the mind/hunger connection and how to determine where you are on the hunger scale!). You need to hydrate with fresh water. When you follow these simple guidelines there will be no need to neither deprive nor binge. You will feel great and your body will thank you!
But I Hate Running/Yoga/Aerobics – Be More Like Monica From Friends
Have you seen the episode of Friends where Monica is taking a tap-dancing class? She’s super bad at it (kind of like me in a Zumba class!) and the teacher calls her out in front of the whole class telling her she’s doing it all wrong. Her response to the teacher is “Yah but at least I’m doing it!”.
This is a perfect example of what it means to be kind to yourself/body when you exercise. We all know how important it is to move our bodies. Exercise keeps us healthy not only physically but mentally as well. So if this is a necessary part of our day, why would you want to do something that you don’t enjoy?
Sometimes we get caught up in the “I don’t have time to exercise” dialogue with ourselves. My motto has always been it’s the Quality not the Quantity! If you find yourself not wanting to start an exercise session because of this, remember that even 10 or 15 minutes of an exercise you actually enjoy is far better than no exercise at all! Keep that body moving and it will thank you!
Being kind to your body is never an all or nothing thing! It takes work and time! Don’t expect it to happen overnight and don’t expect it to be perfect every single day. You’ll have days that the first thought you have is more on the negative side of things; that’s ok! When you notice that, go back to the Reframing exercise we talked about earlier. Or if perhaps you’ve over-indulged on the Pleasure foods today, maybe tomorrow you decide to be a little kinder to your body and fuel yourself with lots of Power foods. I invite you to share how you are practicing Body Kindness this week. Pop over to the Perfectly Imperfect Mastermind Group on FB and share your successes!
Anne Caissie
Life Metamorphosis Coach
Branch Director, Happy Healthy Women - Guelph
Facilitator, Women’s Wellness Circle – Guelph
Did you know that the average woman spends 17 years of her life on a diet?
That doesn’t include the time that we spend worrying about how we look or telling ourselves that we aren’t good enough.
The past year has taught us life is too short. Things we take for granted can be what we end up deeply craving when they’re gone.
The fitness and beauty industry want us to believe that the answer is: we just have to work harder and spend more money.
It’s all crap.
The research is overwhelming: diets DO NOT work. According to the Council on Size & Weight Discrimination, 95% of diets fail and more than half gain back any lost weight within 1-5 years.
So, if diets don’t work - what does?
Embracing Joyful Movement
Re-think how you see exercise and its role in your life.
We need to stop believing that the reasons we need to exercise are to burn calories, justify what we ate or punish our bodies into a smaller size.
Ask yourself: what else does movement do for me? How does it improve my life? Why else does it feel good to move my body?
A few examples: It reduces my anxiety. It’s relieves stress, helps me sleep and have more energy!
Or, here is a radical one: I have fun while I am doing it.
Seek out movement you ENJOY even if it doesn’t look like traditional exercise. What did you like doing as a kid? Did you dance? Bike rides? Baseball? Use that as your inspiration.
Mindful Eating - Healing your relationship with food
We’ve been taught to ignore our hunger cues and use food for emotional comfort.
Here are some questions to discover your “food story”:
Write out your answers. Highlight any patterns, recurring thoughts, or statements that aren’t objectively true or anything that was “passed onto you” by someone else (or by society!).
Write a new story by incorporating mindfulness into your eating routine.
Mindful Eating is all about slowing down and learning how to listen to your internal cues of hunger and satiety.
Embrace mindful eating by:
With these small steps, you can connect with your body in a new way!
Replace shame, guilt and self-blame with honouring your body, celebrating what it can do, its abilities, and how you FEEL in your body - rather than how it looks.
You aren’t broken - diet culture is.
If you want to learn more, get FREE access to our Self Love Formula Webinar so you can learn more about how to stop self-sabotage and build your confidence.
Courtney McCarthy is an ACE certified group fitness instructor, Mindset Coach, and Founder of Loyobo FIT. Loyobo FIT stands for Love Your Body Fitness, which is a hybrid body positive fitness community that helps women to ditch diet culture and use fitness as a foundation for confidence in every aspect of their lives.
Courtney is happy to be a Happy Healthy Women Guelph, ON Trailblazer.
