Hello dear HHW Global community!

As we greet the rejuvenating season of spring, I find myself reflecting on growth - not just the blossoming around us, but our personal journeys of expansion and transformation. Let's explore this together, through the lens of my own story and the wisdom of Ayurvedic elements.

Embracing Growth: The Plant Analogy:

Consider a thriving plant. When it outgrows its pot, we don't hesitate to transplant it into a larger one, giving it room to flourish. This simple act of changing containers is a powerful metaphor for personal and professional growth. Just like the plant, we too need space to expand, to reach our full potential.

My Journey of Expansion:

When I first embarked on my solo journey as a Reiki master teacher, the world of business was uncharted territory for me. I felt like a seedling in a small pot, yearning for space. Joining the HHW community was my way of stepping into a bigger container. This leap not only nurtured my growth as a Reiki practitioner but also as a solopreneur. It was a transformation that resonated deeply with the essence of Reiki - flowing with life's energy and embracing change.

The Ayurvedic Elements:

Ayurveda, often referred to as the sister science of Yoga, is an ancient holistic healing system from India. It emphasizes the balance of body, mind, and spirit through the understanding of the five elements – Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Ether. These elements represent different aspects of our existence and align with specific chakras, reminding us that growth is multidimensional. For instance, 'Earth' grounds us in stability, 'Water' nurtures our adaptability and emotional well-being, 'Fire' fuels our ambitions and transformative energy, 'Air' symbolizes movement and change, and 'Ether' connects us to the expansive, spiritual aspects of the universe.

Spring Awakening: A Time for Elemental Harmony:

This spring marks a special time in our collective journey - an opportunity to embrace the spirit of renewal and growth, aligning ourselves with the natural rhythm of the universe. As part of our Spring Awakening series, we will embark on a profound exploration of these Ayurvedic elements, each linked to specific chakras and meditations. This is more than just a learning experience; it's a transformative journey, allowing us to find our larger pot, where our roots can delve deeper and our branches can stretch higher. For more details about the series and how to be a part of this elemental harmony, please click here. Join us every Wednesday at 7:55 pm, from April 3rd to June 19th, as we embrace the renewing energies of Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Ether, fostering holistic growth and balance.

As we each navigate our path towards a larger container for growth, let's draw inspiration from the Ayurvedic elements. These ancient elements guide us in fully embracing our potential, reminding us that growth is a harmonious blend of understanding and aligning with the natural forces within and around us. In our 'Spring Awakening' series, we'll explore this synergy between the timeless teachings of Ayurveda and the enduring wisdom of Reiki. Together, these practices offer a holistic path to growth, balance, and well-being. Join me in this journey as we transcend our boundaries and flourish in this season of renewal and awakening. Here's to growing together in harmony and wisdom!

Nasreen, a Reiki Master Teacher and founder of Japan Reiki Studio, is also the Canada chapter head of the Japan Reiki Association. She introduces women to self-care and energy work through her Wellness Reiki Circle, a first step in their transformative journey. With a philosophy of 'me first, then everyone else,' Nasreen emphasizes self-healing as essential for empowerment. A former skeptic turned passionate practitioner, she dedicates her life to teaching, healing, and life coaching, aiming to elevate vibrations and spread resilience and positivity.

Learn more about Nasreen

February, the month of love. Valentine’s Day has passed and with it the roses are drying, the chocolates are consumed, and the jewelry is worn or it’s found a home in the jewelry box. Lovely, but all temporary things. In life we see events unfold in our personal sphere and we cannot always control it all. What we can control is how we handle it. Lead with love. How do we do this?

1. Demonstrate love and kindness for yourself.
2. Take pause before speaking to others and see if what you are about to communicate is coming from a place of encouragement and support.
3. Praise others when you see a job well done, or the effort they have put into their work.
4. Avoid gossip and the need to compete.
5. Be quick to forgive wrongs done.

Remember, you are your most valuable asset and it is essential to invest in you. Take personal inventory of what you like and don’t like then show yourself compassionate acceptance. Next to grace, make an honest plan on how you can nurture yourself in all parts. Understanding the importance of developing self love and acceptance is key to moving forward in life and business. It enables you to be firm in your boundaries and to identify what is acceptable in other relationships. Love that genuinely comes from deep within automatically flows out and spreads to others. As leaders and entrepreneurs leading with love will build a stronger community.

Christie enjoyed a long career in nursing and is now pursuing her passion in self development. Wellness Haven and Health offers Life Skills Coaching, Happiness Coaching, and Neurodynamic Breathwork. Encouraging self empowerment for all clients with a focus on the seven principles of wellness.

Learn more about Christie

Discipline: is it controlling or is it a path to freedom?

People tell me I’m disciplined. I used to resist this quality, but now I'm learning to embrace its beauty.

Often discipline is viewed in a negative connotation – like it’s a punishment or a restrictive way of being or that it’s about making us do something instead of wanting to do something.

Is this true?

To help me answer this question I did a bit of internet research and came across an article in the Huff Post that talked about how thousands of years ago the sages of ancient India formulated the Dharma Code, a system for making enlightened choices in everyday life. The fourth Dharma principle is discipline and the way the ancient sages defined discipline is the "focused effort that leads to personal transformation". I love this definition!

I believe personal transformation is about reaching our goals, getting what we desire, creating the life we want, and up-leveling ourselves, our careers, our health, and our relationships. And this personal transformation leads to us to feeling good about our choices, feeling in alignment with ourselves, and a deep inner knowing that we are doing the right thing for us.

The other part of the Dharma principle of discipline is “focused effort”. What does this mean? I look at it as creating structures in our life that will help us bring about personal transformation. If this sounds constricting to you, I’d like to offer that it’s actually the opposite. Structures provide us a way of doing things; they’re a mental construct for organizing our brains and all the thoughts going through it. Structures give us a way to organize the chaos around us. I know when I’m in chaos I feel overwhelmed, anxious, full of self-doubt, frustrated, irritable, or resentful. And who wants to feel all that?

Structures help in the formation and keeping of habits which in turn lead toward a way of being. When we have a certain way of being every day, when we follow the structures we have created for ourselves – this leads to a disciplined approach to doing things. And a disciplined approach to doing things leads to personal transformation.

Discipline allows us to gain control of our own lives. I believe we all have agency over our own lives and a disciplined approach to things will help us achieve that agency.

Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, says “discipline generates great freedom in our life, allowing us to manifest our purpose”. Purpose – isn’t that what we’re all here to find and do?

And that leads me to the most important part of my thoughts on discipline. To obtain personal transformation and commit to focused effort, we need to be in tune with our purpose, or as Simon Sinek calls it, our why. We need to keep going back to why we want something. Whatever that why is, that’s the critical piece.

Interestingly, the Latin etymology of discipline comes from the word discipulus, which means ‘pupil’. I love this because to me this means becoming a pupil of ourselves. I think tapping into our why enables us to learn about ourselves. Creating structures and habits and discipline in our lives provides us with new ways of looking at ourselves, of determining what is important to us, and of showing us what we are capable of! Being pupils of ourselves, being aware of how we respond to things, looking to create a better version of ourselves, learning new and different things about our bodies, our minds, our spirituality – this is the best gift we can give ourselves.

 ***

If you are looking to create more discipline in your life, and more importantly want to be clear on your purpose, then I invite you to work with me and learn about how I can help you live a genuine, fulfilled, and aligned life. Apply to work with me today.

***

Vera Ilnyckyj is a Life Coach, Podcaster and Writer, whose mission is to help women shine their light more brightly. She’s passionate about helping women heal their heart to allow them to gain clarity about what's important in their life, connect with their purpose, and take action to live a genuine and fulfilled life. Apply to work with Vera in her one-on-one coaching program.

Vera hosts a podcast, Practical Wisdom from a Life Coach, which can be found on all podcast platforms.

She is also a Trailblazer with Happy Healthy Women.

Connect with Vera on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn and learn more about her at her website.

Have you ever asked yourself these questions?:

How do I listen to my intuition?

How do I know the difference between my ego and my intuition?

How do I truly know that it's my intuition?

I so remember the first time I asked one of my mentors about my intuition.  'I think I'm wishful thinking' is what I told her.  And she chuckled at me and said, what's wrong with that?  Wouldn’t you rather wishful think knowing you are connecting to your intuition or doubt it every step of the way?

I didn't quite understand until years later!  Now that I have completely immersed myself in the learning of intuition and how it speaks to us, I can honestly say that the wishful thinking is part of intuition.  

When we wishful think we are activating our vision and our manifesting powers which are in direct connection with our intuition.

HERE ARE 5 SIMPLE WAYS TO START LISTENING TO YOUR INTUITION:

#1 - STOP

Stop for just a few minutes and breathe.  Intuition comes through in between the chaos, the chatter, the thoughts, the running around, the to do list, etc.  If you can take a few minutes to breathe, quiet your mind, that is the moment you will hear it.

#2 - CONNECT 

Get out into nature, connect with people that fill your cup, breathe into your heart.  Intuition grows when you can connect with other living things.  We are part of an energetic world and when positive beings meets positivity, the frequency rises and your connection to your guidance increases as well.

#3 - LOVE

Intuition always comes through in a loving way.  If you feel yourself doubting, analyzing, judging, criticizing.  IT IS NOT YOUR INTUITION.  If you have a random thought and you think, hm.. was that my intuition, first check in, did it come through in love and calmness?  If yes, then yes it was!  As soon as your ego takes over, it'll start questioning it, just push it aside and believe your first impression.

#4 - TRUST

This is probably the biggest challenge we all face.  TRUST that your knowing is guiding you.  When you get a thought, an idea, a guidance, know that it is coming from deep within.  It might feel like you are imagining it because that is how it feels at first, go with it.  The more you surrender and you humour your imagination, the more your intuition grows. 

#5 - SURRENDER

Completely give in to the guidance.  Make it a game and make it fun!  When you get a nudge, follow it.  If it feels good inside, if it feels peaceful then that is your intuition. Feel into your body and listen for the guidance.  It might come as a whisper, a feeling, a vision, a song just start being aware and surrender to that.  (You might experience this with reoccurring numbers, a song that you just can't get out of your head, or a nagging feeling)

Our biggest CHALLENGE when it comes to our intuition is our ego!  It's our logic mind.  It will jump in very quickly! Notice how fast the questioning and the doubts start. That is a clear sign that your ego has taken over. You are no longer in your heart, you are back in your head.  

When that happens, take a nice deep breath, bring your awareness from your head to your heart, feel into it and ask yourself, was that my intuition?  Then, listen to your body.  It will give you a soul yes or a soul no.  TRUST this answer.

HERE IS YOUR SOUL MISSION:

Take some time tune in.   Notice how your intuition comes through and challenge yourself to honour its guidance.  Go against the ego and try following your nudges.  See what happens and what inspires you from this. 

Your intuition will only grow if you listen and action its wisdom.

Much love,
Rachel xo

Rachel Benton is a Licensed Life & Embodiment Coach and a ThetaHealing Energy Practitioner.  She helps women build their business in complete alignment with their truth and intuition and guides them to create a soulful life that FUELS and IGNITES them!

Rachel is also the branch director for Happy Healthy Women - Cambridge - Join the Facebook Group

Connect with her today:
Website
Instagram: @rachelbentonlifecoach

Benefits of meditation are many: better concentration and mood management, relaxation leading to better sleep, improved mental health and immunity, lower blood pressure, and on and on the list goes.

Each one of these benefits is helpful in the life of any human, but what if you’re not quite like any other human? What if you want more? What if you’re an entrepreneur? Can you get more bang for your buck from meditation?

YES, yes you can!

Breath, mantra, mudra, and intention are all the elements of meditation. Let me explain each one, and how it can support a busy person who wishes prosperity and business success:

1. Intention. We all talk about manifesting prosperity, we watched The Secret and all that, but the truth is, you don’t have to manifest anything! We think we have to do something, neglecting to integrate and embody the fact that prosperity is our birthright. Abundance is everywhere, accessible to all of us. Trying to manifest prosperity is like being thirsty, standing beside a clear spring and praying for pop to fall from the sky! All you have to do is to reach out your cupped hand, immerse it in the spring, and drink. Align yourself with the energy of prosperity, reach out your hand, and it’s yours!

2. Breath can make you feel abundant! After all, you don’t have to do anything to deserve it or to manifest it. The breath is given to you, just because you’re here and you’re alive! However, intentional breathing practice can make you feel more alert, focused, detail oriented, even more outgoing! Try right-nostril breathing: Cover your left nostril, and breathe in and out through the right nostril only. Within 3 minutes of deep, slow  breathing you’ll experience a difference!

3. Mantra is simply a repeated phrase, often containing sacred sound current, carrying the energetic vibration of certain physical, emotional, and mental states. And yes, there are mantras for prosperity and good luck, for destroying karma, for legal troubles, for eliminating various blockages - great topics for another article!

4. Mudras are hand positions that are often used while meditating. Millenia-old science of mudras is based on the way that various hand positions alter the circulation of energy in the body, producing various awareness states and physical and mental effects. And yes, there are several mudras for prosperity. Look up Kubera Mudra if you want a simple, static mudra while doing a meditation. In Kundalini meditation there are also many other prosperity mudras that are practiced with specific meditations.

But guess what’s the most effective? If you combine all of these elements and extend the mudra to your entire body, you get a practice that is stunningly powerful! With that practice we can demolish the blocks (physical, mental, emotional) that are standing in our way to prosperity and abundance. 

Last year, a few weeks after going into the first lockdown, I succumbed to the wave of panic and confusion, as many small business owners did. I recognized that I needed to pivot, but I wasn’t clear on how exactly, so I started doing this practice. Pretty shortly after that, a new way to serve in my business clarified, I was able to continue with a new sense of purpose, drive and optimism, and a new source of income.

Do you want in? Join me for a 40-day group practice of Param Karam Dharam kriya - a moving meditation that will help you align with the flow of prosperity. You will discover new openings for growth and abundance in places that were previously unavailable to you. You will make shifts effortlessly, as you practice with the flow of energy, and that flow will carry you through your life and business. Awaken to new possibilities!

The Great Mother Archetype holds one of the most powerful energies in the world - the power of feminine energy!

We see it when we look at Gaia the Greek Goddess who created the world out of void and mass and darkness.

We see it in Isis the Egyptian Goddess whose ability to heal could bring the dead back to life. We see it in Sophia the Goddess of Wisdom who showed people the best way of living by connecting them to their higher selves.

We see it in the Virgin Mary as she protects and nurtures the Son of God.

As human beings we all have a deep connection to the Great Mother Archetype and the incredible energy that she holds because we have all been the recipients of her great gifts.

We come into this world vulnerable, weak, and in need, and without the nurturing and life-sustaining energy that the Great Mother brings into the world none of us would have survived!

For some of us this energy came in the form of a traditional mother, but for others  it came in the form of grandma's, aunties, sisters, nannies, babysitters, or even in some cases the men in our lives.

This life force offers us:

Nurture

Support

Intuition

Creativity

Wisdom

Persistence

The list goes on and on!

But there are four beautiful gifts that Great Archetype offers us that I think are really worth highlighting!

She gives us the gift of collaboration

So many of us have been taught that competition is the only way to have success. That in order for one of us to win than others must lose - and this has created a world that is unkind, unforgiving, and in so many ways cruel.

But when we connect with the feminine energy that the Great Mother offers us we see that there is another way to live - That we can live in the spirit of collaboration and that it is the real 'secret' to success.

She offers us the idea that it is by working together that we move out of the mindset of scarcity and into the mindset of abundance - And from a mindset of abundance so much of what we thought was impossible becomes possible!

She gives us the gift of intuition

We live in a world that glorifies the mind and its ability to rationalize, analyze and justify. We all spend so much time living in our heads that we forget that our bodies are our first line of communication - that our bodies carry wisdom that goes beyond anything our minds can sort or understand.

Because we have all had the experience of walking into a room and getting a 'vibe' right? But so many of us, instead of listening to that vibe, begin the process of explaining that vibe away. And the results of that are often painful! We find ourselves in relationships that aren't good for us, partnerships that don't work, and in experiences that can take us years to process! But our Great Mother offers us another way to be - she encourages us to get in touch with our bodies, to listen to them, to use the sensations we feel as guides and as arrows that move us in the direction that is right for us!!

She gives us the gift of creation

We are all giving birth to something - a family, a new friendship, a business, a technology, or an idea. And our Great Mother gives us the power to nurture and sustain these things.

One of the things that we are creating that we seldom think about is our inner voice! When we are not tapped into our feminine energy we tend to create a voice that is so critical and that focuses on tearing down not building up.

But when we connect to our feminine energy we create a voice that is kinder, that brings life, that tells us what is possible, and points out how very worthy we are.

It's a voice that heals us and when we share that voice with others it's a voice that can heal our communities and can heal the world we live in!

Taking a moment to reflect:

• In what areas of your life would collaboration be beneficial? In your relationships? In your business?
• What would you see if you had an abundant mindset?
• What would change if you trusted that the creative nurturing energy that is inside of you?
• Where do you need some guidance?
• In what area of your life have you thought about things for so long but you still have no answers?
• What seems to be beyond your ability to understand right now?
• If you tap into your body what does it tell you about these things?
• Where do you feel like you are giving birth to something but you have a voice of destruction that is threatening it?
• What in your life do you need to encourage and nurture? What do you need to speak life into?

Now of course The Great Mother, in all her feminine glory has more than one side to her!

She is life-sustaining and nurturing and wise and creative.

But she also has another side.

We know that the Great Mother is best seen as Mother Nature and Mother Nature comes to us in seasons.

She brings us spring and summer - but she also brings us fall and winter.

And when she brings us fall and winter she comes to us as the Terrible Mother.

And even when she comes to us as the Terrible Mother she comes to us as a gift and baring gifts.

She gives us the gift of letting go

The Terrible Mother comes to us when things that we have held on to for too long need to die -when it is time to let go and to make room for what is new.

An amazing Goddess that exemplifies this is the Goddess Kali.

She is a fascinating Goddess with multiple arms and legs that wears a necklace of skulls and a skirt made of arms. And her whole purpose is simply to find things in the world whose time has come and to help them through the 'dying' process.

And we all have things in our life that need to die, don't we?

Old ideas

Old stories

Old belief systems

Relationships that harm us rather than serve us

Partnership and connections that are holding us back

And when we let these things go the seasons change again and the Terrible Mother transforms and becomes the Great Mother again bringing with her spring and summer, bringing with her new ideas to nurture, new relationships to enjoy, new adventures to embark on!

The power of the Great Mother/Terrible Mother and the incredible life-changing energy that she brings are available to us at any time and she is always ready to walk with you on your life journey!

If you are interested in learning more join us for an in-depth study of the book 'Women Who Run With The Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

https://www.meetup.com/Happy-Healthy-Women-SOUTH-SURREY-BC/events/wqtvcsyccfbhc/

Meg is a life coach, Hypnotherapist, blogger and event host that is passionate about walking with people who want more out of life than just the status quo!

She believes that life doesn’t have to work out exactly the way we think it “should” in order to be enjoyed and that people don’t have to be perfect in order to be loved.

She believes that we all have the voice of truth inside of us but sometimes it can be hard to hear. And most importantly that we must live between the tension of accepting the things we cannot change and taking massive action on the things we can!

Meg creates spaces where women can slow down and process all the things that are influencing and controlling their lives - their everyday thoughts, emotions, and the stories they have been telling themselves.

Spaces where they can look at their inner world, gain valuable insight and then reclaim their personal authority, and make conscious decisions that transform the way they experience their lives!

Through one on one coaching, group coaching and workshops Meg helps women show up in the world with more love, and less ego, more compassion, and less judgment, more vulnerability, and less shame, more emotional agility and less fear!

Meg is also the current Branch Director of South Surrey/White Rock for Happy Healthy women.

Meg lives in BC with her husband of 20 years, two teenage boys and their little dog Charlie.

To learn more about Meg and her business, visit her website www.megheppner.com​                                                                                          

 “Identity is this incredible invisible force that controls your whole life. It’s invisible like gravity is invisible, but it controls your whole life.” 

 - Tony Robbins

 Have you ever done something or said something and then had to ask yourself "Why did I just do/say that? Where did that come from and what was I thinking?"

 Or maybe you have struggled with something for a long time and you've asked yourself "Why is this something I still struggle with? Why can't I just get over it, or past it, or around it?"

I know I have - and it can be so frustrating!

To feel like you are in a situation that you have no control over, where you spoke or acted before you could think it through and at the end are just left wondering what the heck happened!

We so often don't realize that we are being controlled by our identity - by how we have chosen to see ourselves.

So what is this all-powerful identity that controls us?

Part of our identity are the facts of our life:

"I am a mother, a wife, a sister, a lawyer, an entrepreneur" etc.

But our identity also runs much deeper than that.

It runs into words like worthy and deserve and good and bad.

So one part of our identity might be "I am a mother" but a deeper level of our identity is "I am a good mother."

Things like 'mother,' 'daughter,' 'sister,' 'wife' 'entrepreneur', 'employee', are all parts of our identity that come and go.

For example: Although I am a wife and mother now, there was a time when I wasn't.

But what tends to stick around and cause us some grief is the deeper identities of 'good,' 'bad,' 'capable, 'unworthy,' etc.

And here's what happens:

If we have decided to see ourselves as not good enough, we will act not good enough.

If we have decided to see ourselves as bad, we will constantly be defending ourselves. If we have decided to see ourselves as incapable, we will constantly view ourselves as coming up short.

This part of our identity is a self-fulfilling prophecy that unless we acknowledge and uproot it we can not get past.

We may say we feel like we are capable, and we may read all the self-help possible, and we may talk a good game - but if in the back of our minds (subconsciously) we have attached ourselves to a negative deeper identity then that deeper negative identity is in control.

So how do you know if you have attached yourself to a deeper negative identity?

1. Listen to your languaging. How do you speak about yourself? Even jokingly? How often do you say "Oh I am so terrible" or "I feel so guilty" or "What was I thinking?" In these small off the cuff, comments are arrows pointing to a hidden deeper identity, an identity of being "bad", being "wrong or guilty", being "unintelligent."
2. Are there areas of your life that you seem to have long term struggles - things that no matter how hard you try you just can't get past? These long term "problems" are often linked to your identity. Remember you will never live outside of your identity - all of your actions must be in agreement with your identity. So if there is something you seem to not be able to do there is a direct connection to your deeper identity - to how you see yourself, whether consciously or subconsciously.

So how do we change things? How do we give ourselves a new deeper identity?

Well, one of the quickest ways is to give yourself new evidence​ of who you are and what you​ contribute to the world.

New evidence can always be found in a new perspective!

Our old identities are built on a certain way of looking at the world, and that way of looking at the world dismisses anything that doesn't agree with that specific world view.

So if your deeper identity is that you are 'unworthy' no matter how well you do something, or how much you succeed you will only allow into your consciousness the evidence that confirms your 'unworthiness.'

In order to change our identity, we must let in other evidence. Evidence of our goodness, of our worthiness, of our capabilities.

We must ask ourselves these questions:

1. What might I be missing because I am so used to seeing myself a certain way?
2. What is another word to describe what I did? How I acted? What I said? (Instead of saying I was terrible, can I say I am still learning?)
3. If I were to look at this through the eyes of a friend how would I describe it? If I were to look at this through the eyes of the universe how would I describe it?
4. What else is true here? (If it is true that I was incapable could it also be true that I have the ability to learn and grow?)

By asking these questions we can find new evidence for who we are - which in turn affects our deeper identity - finally giving us what we actually need in order to make the changes we want to make, show up the way we want to show up, and simply just feel good about ourselves!

 XOXO

Meg

Meg is a life coach, blogger and event host that is passionate about walking with people who want more out of life than just the status quo!

She believes that life doesn’t have to work out exactly the way we think it “should” in order to be enjoyed and that people don’t have to be perfect in order to be loved.

She believes that we all have the voice of truth inside of us but sometimes it can be hard to hear. And most importantly that we must live between the tension of accepting the things we cannot change and taking massive action on the things we can!

Meg creates spaces where women can slow down and process all the things that are influencing and controlling their lives - their everyday thoughts, emotions, and the stories they have been telling themselves.

Spaces where they can look at their inner world, gain valuable insight and then reclaim their personal authority, and make conscious decisions that transform the way they experience their lives!

Through one on one coaching, group coaching and workshops Meg helps women show up in the world with more love, and less ego, more compassion, and less judgment, more vulnerability, and less shame, more emotional agility and less fear!

Meg lives in BC with her husband of 20 years, two teenage boys and their little dog Charlie.

To learn more about Meg and her business, visit her website realexcellentliving.com​                                                                                         

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, the brand-new year smell is in the air, can you sense it? The excitement, the shiny new hopes, resolutions and goals, and magical guiding focus words for the year... We’re so excited by the possibilities of manifesting something previously unreachable, that it’s making us giddy!

Is the new year really the best time to make such declarations? Hardly! Who knows, maybe it’s a part of the reason why the majority of new year resolutions and goals never come to fruition?

The new year is a man-made, artificial concept, which does not fit with the Universe’s cycles at all! There are plenty of better occasions to make new plans and set new goals, such as:

• Winter Solstice
• New Moon - a great opportunity to set intentions for manifestation of new things,
• Full Moon - time to let go of the old, outdated things, feelings and beliefs.
• Your personal Moon time (your menstrual period) correlates with an increase of energy until your ovulation, which is aligned with setting some shorter term goals.

All of these natural occurrences will support you in making new goals and planting seeds for manifestation by adding a strong push of energy behind your intention, so you can create powerfully!

What happens if you fall off the wagon or if your path becomes convoluted due to circumstances beyond your control? When is the best time to get back on? Is it on Monday? On the next Full Moon? When the snow melts? Noooooooooo!

My friend, please understand (and I mean FEEL IT  in your gut and in your bones, feel it until it hurts and imprints deeply on your psyche) that tomorrow is not promised to any of us! Your next breath might not come. None of us are entitled to “next week”.

Please understand that your every breath is a gift, the Universe breathes you full of exquisite lifeforce, which gets distributed to every single cell of your body. It’s a miracle!

In our illusion of “being in control” we think that we TAKE a breath, but in reality the breath enters our body passively! The exhalation requires work (the diaphragm muscle contracts, pushing the air out). When your diaphragm relaxes, the air rushes in into your body passively, due to the pressure gradient between the outside and the inside of your body.

Therefore, you receive the gift of breath, so accept it with grace and appreciation. Treasure it and use it with the deepest reverence. Treat it as the most sacred gift, because that’s what it is!

Coming back to my earlier question, when is the best time to pick up your goals, resolutions, intentions, if you still find them meaningful? Know this: your EVERY BREATH is a new opportunity! Your every inhale is a new beginning! Use that brand new opportunity every time, and never give up! Keep doing it until you succeed, because I know you will!

If you feel you need something different to gently jostle you out of your element and back towards your greatness with more vigour and energy, I want to offer you  my 2021 Mind & Body Reset Bundle. It consists of 2 simple, tasty and powerful recipes, and 3 short Kundalini Yoga practices designed to keep you energised, balanced, and healthy.

Enjoy, and Happy New Breath!

With love and gratitude,

SevaRam Spronk

SevaRam serves Happy Healthy Women as the Kitchener branch director. She is a level 2 KRI-certified Kundalini Yoga teacher (RYT-500), and she shares the life-saving tools of this technology with her community through on-line classes and workshops. In her life-coaching business she helps entrepreneurial women to destroy their self-perceived limitations to reach the next level of success.

www.SRKKundaliniYoga.org

"Gratitude turns what we have into enough and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." - Melody Beattie

Nothing can change things as fast as gratitude can. We can be spinning in circles, feeling overwhelmed and out of control, thoughts bouncing from thing to thing faster than we can keep up with, and then, in walks gratitude!

All of a sudden you are opened, vast and expanded, you relax into a place of peace and contentment and best of all you are delivered to your highest self.

Gratitude is so powerful!

In fact, let's try it right now: bring into your mind someone or something that you feel grateful for. Maybe it is for your loved ones, your kiddos, or your life partner. Maybe it's the home you live in or the work that you do. Maybe you have recovered from an illness, or someone has really been there for you, or you've had an opportunity open up.

Whatever it is for you, hold it in the center of your awareness and acknowledge the gift it has been in your life. Place your hand on your chest and become aware of your heart and feel for a moment what you are experiencing when you feel grateful. Notice the openness that you feel, notice the expansive feeling, how you begin to relax, and begin to feel a sense of peace.

And notice what is most important about gratitude - that it is not the thoughts that you have, but instead it is a feeling, an explosion of sensations in your body and spirit. It is a state of consciousness, a way of showing up in the world.

So often we think of gratitude as an attitude to live by - that it's about thoughts and beliefs.

We think of gratitude as being positive, seeing the good in things, and using language that reflects that.

But gratitude is not an attitude - gratitude is a state of consciousness. It is a way of being in the world that comes from a soul level. After all, we don't experience gratitude in our heads (how often have you said "I know I should be grateful for this") we experience gratitude in our hearts.

All we have to do is bring to mind the face of a loved one and our hearts begin to sing, our bodies begin to vibrate with love, in fact sometimes when we add words our gratitude goes away (lol) as we being to think about something they said or did that didn't match the blueprint of what we wanted!

When we move from gratitude being about positivity and about our thoughts to an actual expanded consciousness that we live with we find something amazing happens: we find the quote from above actually becomes true in our lives.

We find that we move from conditional gratitude to gratitude beyond conditions!

For so many of us, we only allow ourselves to feel gratitude when things are going the way we want them to go, when people are treating us in a way that meets our needs and when our circumstances match what we want them to be. It's so easy to feel gratitude then!

But when we move from an attitude of gratitude to a gratitude consciousness we no longer need our life circumstances to match our needs to feel gratitude.

After all, sometimes the things that don't feel good are extremely good for us - and sometimes the things that feel good are not that good for us!

We are often so terrified of feeling discomfort, or unpleasantness, that the minute these feelings come up we have to do everything possible to get rid of the feeling! We have the unhelpful habit of measuring our success by if we feel good or not!

But when we instead pause with the feeling of uncomfortability we find out that these feelings are often doorways to awareness, enlightenment, and healing! What feels good and what feels bad is not always the best way to measure success! When we slip into black and white thinking or either/or thinking we believe that if we are uncomfortable then life is terrible, and if things are great then we allow ourselves to be happy.

But when we take on gratitude as a level of consciousness, as an expanded world view we can be uncomfortable and be dealing with hard emotions and still be grateful - you can acknowledge that you are unhappy and still allow your consciousness to notice and feel gratitude for the life you are experiencing!

So spend some time today in gratitude for everything - make a list that includes the beautiful things in your life and the not so beautiful! Hold each thing in your heart and allow yourself to feel grateful for it without slipping into thoughts or beliefs! At first, this may seem so difficult (trust me it was for me!) but with time and practice you will find yourself observing all the areas of your life without judgment or rational and you will find yourself being grateful for things that you thought you could never feel grateful for!

Today I am practicing the gratitude consciousness with you - today I have things on my plate that make me uncomfortable, that I dread, that cause me pain. But each time they come to mind I say to myself "I am so grateful that I get to experience life, and this is part of my life."

When my mind wants to slip into old thinking I repeat again "I am so grateful that I get to experience life, and this is part of my life." I hold each situation in my heart without judgment, I allow myself to feel whatever feelings come up and I say again "I am so grateful that I get to experience life, and this is part of my life."

And I am always surprised and delighted at how the tension in my body begins to fade, and how I can stay with the uncomfortability all enough to see it as a step on the path of lessons the universe has prepared for me.

May it be the same with you!

XO Meg

Meg is a life coach, blogger and event host that is passionate about walking with people who want more out of life than just the status quo!

She believes that life doesn’t have to work out exactly the way we think it “should” in order to be enjoyed and that people don’t have to be perfect in order to be loved.

She believes that we all have the voice of truth inside of us but sometimes it can be hard to hear. And most importantly that we must live between the tension of accepting the things we cannot change and taking massive action on the things we can!

Meg creates spaces where women can slow down and process all the things that are influencing and controlling their lives - their everyday thoughts, emotions, and the stories they have been telling themselves.

Spaces where they can look at their inner world, gain valuable insight and then reclaim their personal authority, and make conscious decisions that transform the way they experience their lives!

Through one on one coaching, group coaching and workshops Meg helps women show up in the world with more love, and less ego, more compassion, and less judgment, more vulnerability, and less shame, more emotional agility and less fear!

Meg lives in BC with her husband of 20 years, two teenage boys and their little dog Charlie.

To learn more about Meg and her business, visit her website:

www.realexcellentliving.co​m

There are so many of us that use food for more than just nourishment, or enjoyment, or as a way to connect with our community...there are so many of us that use food in a desperate way to fill some deep emotional hole that we have.

We use food to somehow make us happy, or calm, or just plain "feel better," whatever that means to us!

For the most part, we call this EMOTIONAL EATING (Check out the blog I wrote about emotional eating here https://www.realexcellentliving.com/post/emotional-eating-been-there-donethat)​

But for some of us, the eating has reached a tipping point and it's more than just emotional eating, for some of us it's become something darker and seemingly harder to overcome.

Some of us have tipped over into Binge Eating.

So what is Binge Eating?

Binge eating is an aggravated form of emotional eating. Over time, an emotional eater moves from just eating in response to emotions to MASSIVELY overeating in response to emotions once you are no longer​ able to get the good feeling from food that you are used to. Often you​ tip from emotional eating to binge eating when you have a major life trauma or upset that you can't cope with or process.

So how do you know if you have tipped over from emotional eating to binge eating?

Well, if you are a binge eater you :

1. Tend to consume amounts of food that others feel is excessive. A handful of cookies is not enough - we finish the whole bag, we don't just eat one donut we eat 3, or 4 or 6. When we eat for emotional reasons eating an extra dessert might do it, when we are binging we eat the whole cake!
2. Tend to lose control while eating - this is the most distinct characteristic of binge eating. Some people describe feeling 'zoned out,' unaware of what they are doing, or simply just seeming to lack the ability to stop eating. To put it mildly, self-control and will power go completely out the window! Very often you may find that even if you are normally a very neat and tidy person you may leave a mess of crumbs or wrappers behind - as if you suddenly just don't care! Emotional eating is much more a conscious decision then binge eating which feels unconscious!

3. Tend to eat more quickly than usual - there is a frenetic, frantic energy to binge eating! When you are emotionally eating you savor the food as it soothes your feelings, with binge eating there is a "stuffing your face" energy that has nothing to do with flavor or enjoyment and instead is just trying to consume as quickly as possible.

4. Tend to eat to the point of pain - when you are binge eating you eat to the point of feeling extremely uncomfortable even to the point of feeling painfully full, and then you keep eating. (Think Thanksgiving dinner on steroids!) Emotional eating normally stops before you get to that point.

5. Tend to eat in secrecy - Emotional eating can easily happen when we are out for dinner or with other people around, but with binge eating it's something we do alone or in secret. We might hide food or buy food without letting other people know. And we keep it a secret because we feel a huge amount of shame or embarrassment about what we are doing!

6. Tend to feel shame and disgust after you are done binging! Instead of food making you feel better or feel happiness with a twinge of guilt (like you would if you were emotionally eating) you instead feel massive amounts of mental anguish, or anxiety, or depression. This is an important thing to remember...eating no longer has the desired effect of making you feel better, instead, it makes you hate yourself! (For a lack of a better way to say it)

So maybe you've tried everything to gain some control over your eating and maybe you have always thought you were an emotional eater...but now you recognize yourself in the description above!

Maybe why all the advice you have heard and tried has never worked makes sense now!

Maybe you have done so much work on yourself, have walked the path of self-discovery and growth, have dived into self-care, and self-image and self-esteem work, but for some reason have not been able to let go of what you thought was emotional eating.

Binge eating might have a lot in common with emotional eating, but it requires a different strategy and mindset when trying to heal from it! 

The first thing I had to realize as I went deeper into my relationship with food, was that binge eating was not something I was doing wrong, it was not a weakness or a lack of self-control, it was my brain actually doing what it was supposed to be doing!

I had to realize that it wasn't that I wasn't working properly, but rather that I was working properly!

See when we are emotional eaters we are using a different part of our brain then if we are binge eaters, when we are emotional eaters we are using our limbic brain that is responsible for our emotions, but when we are binge eating it is something much more primal, we are actually being controlled by our reptilian brain, where our amygdala is stored, which is where our fight, flight or freeze response comes from. The questions that our reptilian brain asks are "Can I mate with it? Is it safe? Can I eat it?"

If you are a binge eater it feels like you have no control, it feels like something else is taking over when you eat and that is because something is...you are being controlled by our most basic survival instincts. This is your mind trying to take care of you - not trying to harm you!

But so often we are trying to solve our binging by using our limbic or prefrontal cortex which we actually don’t have access to when our reptilian brain is in control.

Hence the reason that when we come to after binge eating it seems like we were someone or somewhere else, and why we promise ourselves it will never happen again (that's our prefrontal talking) but it always does.

For so many years, I was trying to fix my binging with my logic, reasoning, higher thinking, etc that my prefrontal cortex offers (focusing on self-love, etc), never realizing why I wasn’t making a dent. All that personal growth didn't help when I was faced with the temptation of food, or when the end of the day came. My brain was too busy trying to protect me!

 So how do you deal with the reptilian brain?

Your work is to address the fear and create a space where you feel safe. When you create a space where you feel safe and you address that fear you can again access your higher mind. Without creating the feeling of safety, which is what the reptilian brain is trying to create with its overeating, you can not get past the instinct and begin to function from a higher level of thinking

Almost all advice on how to deal with emotional eating makes the assumption that you have access ​to​ your limbic or prefrontal cortex -​which you don't have when you are in reptilian brain mode- which is why all that advice hasn't worked. All information that we receive first flows through our reptilian brain and then moves to the limbic and the​ prefrontal cortex. 

So how do you create a feeling of safety for your brain so that the information can naturally flow into a part of your brain that allows you again to access things like reason, logic, self-love, disciple, etc?

Here are 6 things that worked for me:

1. Give yourself space, space between that moment that your reptilian brain says eat and you start eating. As you create that space give yourself the soothing message that you are safe. Doing something as simple putting the food you love binging on in hard to reach places gives you that moment of space where you can "come back to your sense" so to speak. My favorite way of creating space and soothing my reptilian brain at the same time is putting notes on my fridge door, pantry door, and any food that I find especially tempting that say, "You are safe," "Nothing bad is happening." "You are ok," "Just take one deep breath."

2. After you feel like you have created a space of safety ask yourself "What am I afraid of?" If you are binge eating you are being controlled by fear so you must address that fear. Dig deeper than the first knee jerk reaction by asking yourself this 5 or 6 times and record everything that comes to mind. For me, when it came right down to it I feared the lack of control I felt I had in my life. Everything that controlled me was outside of myself and so I felt I was at the whim of what others would do. My reptilian brain tried to combat this fear through eating.

3. The second thing to ask yourself is "What are you protecting yourself from? Any time the reptilian brain is in charge it is trying to protect you from danger or perceived danger. Since we don't live in a world where we have to be afraid of lions attacking us anymore, what we see as danger has changed! Social rejection, embarrassment, the feeling of being out of control, anxiety, overwhelm, loneliness, can all be seen as danger. For me the danger I felt like I was facing was the loss of my connection with myself as I wore myself out trying to please everyone!

4. The next step sounds easy but is much more difficult then it sounds! You must accept the answers that come up in questions 2 and 3. Now don't think I can't hear you saying "Huh? Of course." But let's tell the truth here, most of the time we don't accept the answers that come up, instead, we try to rationalize, or blame, or analyze our answers so that they "make sense," or we judge them as if we should show up a different way the way we are. None of that is acceptance. Acceptance means saying "This is what is, and I will allow it to be, without trying to add or take away from it." You know you have found acceptance when you feel a settling or a grounding in your body, you don't have to like it, but you feel the tension about it drain away.

5. Next ask yourself the question, "What do I really need right now? What is my desire?" When I realized that I felt so out of control in my life, I realized that I need two things, I needed to learn how to speak up about my needs, and I needed to stop over committing to things. You may find when you ask yourself that question something pops up really quickly but it scares you, but guess what, that's the path you need to be on - trust it. You may find when you ask yourself that question nothing pops up and you feel frustrated, don't worry that's ok! We are often so out of touch with what we actually need that we can't hear it right away! Trying starting a journal, and just free-write everything that comes to mind, then practice accepting whatever you wrote with no judgment or rationalization. Give your subconscious proof that you are safe to share your needs with!

6. When you have identified your need immediately take a step towards it - even if it's just a small step! I remember sitting in my kitchen on nights that I felt compelled to binge and going through this process, and as I recognized my needs I found myself doing things like: sending out resignation emails to things that really didn't fit my schedule, writing letters to my husband to share my overwhelm, typing out texts that were long overdue but I had been putting off because I was afraid. They were hard things, but necessary in order for me to feel like I was taking back control of my life.

So instead of consuming more food then my body could possibly ever need, I found myself learning how to make myself feel safe, accepting myself for who I was, and learning how to grow in areas that were long overdue!

Cheering you on as you journey,

XO Meg

Meg is a life coach, blogger and event host that is passionate about walking with people who want more out of life than just the status quo!

She believes that life doesn’t have to work out exactly the way we think it “should” in order to be enjoyed and that people don’t have to be perfect in order to be loved.

She believes that we all have the voice of truth inside of us but sometimes it can be hard to hear. And most importantly that we must live between the tension of accepting the things we cannot change and taking massive action on the things we can!

Meg creates spaces where women can slow down and process all the things that are influencing and controlling their lives - their everyday thoughts, emotions, and the stories they have been telling themselves.

Spaces where they can look at their inner world, gain valuable insight and then reclaim their personal authority, and make conscious decisions that transform the way they experience their lives!

Through one on one coaching, group coaching and workshops Meg helps women show up in the world with more love, and less ego, more compassion, and less judgment, more vulnerability, and less shame, more emotional agility and less fear!

Meg lives in BC with her husband of 20 years, two teenage boys and their little dog Charlie.

To learn more about Meg and her business, visit her website:

www.realexcellentliving.co​m

You can’t explain it but you feel different. You even have the sensation to have become a new person, which has nothing to do with the one you were before. The reason you're seeking is because your soul instinctively knows that it's ready to grow and shift into a new, higher vibration. As I understand it, this growth can result in aches and pains, as the lower densities inside you move through and are transformed.

The journey to become “woke” is unlike any other and there are certainly no shortcuts or set time frames to get us there. The clearest way in which spiritual awakening manifests itself is in terms of the wakeful person’s different perception and experience of the world around them. It can at times, honestly feel like you’re going crazy! In the first stages it can also feel lonely and overwhelming. But bit by bit we start to see the beauty of life unfolding as we seek the magic that each day brings.

When the filters of social conditioning begin to dissolve, more impressions come into our minds and affect us more powerfully.

Most Common Signs of Spiritual Awakening:
1. Intensified Perception
This intensity of perception is sometimes experienced as openness to experience or, in slightly different terms, an increased sensitivity. We become acutely aware of our environment, those around us and whatever is happening in each given moment.

2. Increased Timelessness
As our sense of ego becomes weaker, the more linear time seems to fade away. Our perception of time slows and expands — and eventually disappears into now-ness.

3. Awareness of Spiritual Energy
Every moment offers the sense of being both magnificent and also very ordinary. We come to understand that this life force is the “source,” of something underlying and fundamental that doesn’t just pervade all things but gives rise to them, too. This is the space where we become master manifestors.

4. Aliveness & Harmony
We see and recognize that all things shine with the radiant aliveness of spirit. All things in existence have a quality of bliss or joy so when we perceive their presence in the world, there’s a sense of harmony, a feeling of “oneness”.


5. Inner Quietness
Say goodbye to the endless inner noise of our thought-chatter! We align with the things that connect us to the essence of our being, beyond our ego-identity, and strengthen our sense of inter-connectedness.

6. Transcendence of Separation 
Separation dissolves into connection. We no longer feel that we’re “in here” looking out at a world that seems to be “out there.” This sense of connection manifests itself in different ways; at the most basic level, we may feel strongly connected to other human beings, other living beings in general, or to the whole natural world. This shifts to the realization that not only are we one with the world but that we actually are the world.

7. Empathy and Compassion
My fellow empaths, you know this all too well; this ability to “feel with” other beings gives rise to compassion and love. Love stems from a sense of connection and oneness, a sense that you are another person — or other people — and so you belong to them and share their experience.

8. Well-Being
Spiritually awakened people are more likely to feel a sense of gratitude for their health and are much less prone to negative states such as boredom, loneliness, and dissatisfaction. We know we are and always have enough.

9. No longer Fear Death
The ego feels especially fragile in the face of death. When our own ego isn’t the epicenter of our universe anymore, its demise no longer seems so devastating. We know that our own death isn’t the end of all things; the world that is part of our identity and the essence of our being will continue to exist after the dissolution of our bodies.

10. Enjoyment of Inactivity: The Ability to “Be”
If you love doing nothing, you’re on the right track! Solitude, quietness, and inactivity; we can rest contentedly within our own being because there’s no turbulence or discord inside us. Instead, we enjoy them deeply because they allow us to touch into the radiance of our own well-being.

11. Autonomy: Living More Authentically
We finally realize that that all this time we weren’t living our own lives but largely just following social conventions or trying to please other people. We become more autonomous and inner-directed. We step into our power with greater confidence in our choices and preferences and we hold ourselves accountable to stand by them, even in the face of ridicule or rejection.

Each day, many people are becoming more conscious and aware to want to take their lives back into their own hands and escape the model imposed by society in order to really know happiness and live the life they truly want to live. As our consciousness grows, the meaning of life changes for us, and we have new aspirations and inspirations, coupled with the desire to change ourselves in order to change the world.

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Dorothy Knight is a Reiki Master Practitioner &Teacher, a Yoga Instructor and wholehearted writer. She currently practices Reiki in Mississauga. She is a certified Reiki Master in the Usui Method of Natural Healing. Her passion is to empower people to reach their greatest potential of health and wellness through Reiki healing methods dorothyknightreiki.ca.  Dorothy is also one of our featured speakers and energy expansion expert at our upcoming HHW “Pure Expansion” summit! Find out more and get your tickets here