Have you ever stopped to think about the ideas and beliefs that guide your life? We all carry a treasure trove of thoughts, viewpoints and beliefs that make us who we are. Most of them have been there before our eighth birthday. But guess what? Some of these beliefs are not serving you, they are actually keeping you stuck and preventing you from creating a life you love.
Let’s dive into the world of programmed beliefs or paradigms – those habitual thoughts, housed in our subconscious mind, that shape our lives without us even realizing it. Let's explore how questioning these beliefs can be your passport to creating a life you love!
Programmed beliefs or paradigms are like the computer software of your mind – they dictate your thoughts, feelings, actions and results, often without your conscious approval. Some of these beliefs are moving you forward, while others are keeping you stuck. Because these beliefs have been a part of you since a very early age you think that they are set in stone but they're more like clay that you can mold and reshape. Many of the beliefs you hold are not even rooted in truth. They are things you have come to believe about yourself and the world, but they were actually put there by someone else. Your parents, your teachers, your culture, your religion, society, traumas or experiences you have had as a child have all shaped the beliefs you now hold.
These programmed beliefs that are housed in your subconscious mind, have incredible power in your life. They determine and affect every aspects of your life, creating a ripple effect:
The great news is we can reprogram subconscious beliefs! We can choose new beliefs, those that support us in creating the life we desire. We can transform our lives through rewriting our beliefs and making them a part of our subconscious program. Here are the steps to begin that transformation:
Embrace this journey of curiosity and transformation. Be gentle and compassionate with yourself as you may encounter some challenging thoughts and beliefs along the way. Continue asking yourself questions. Those questions will lead you to the new beliefs you need, to create what you desire. Remember, everything you need is inside you. As you peel back the layers of old ideas and beliefs, and begin to reprogram your subconscious mind, you're making room for all the potential and possibilities that live inside you!
Kelly-Anne Appleton is a Mindset & Manifestation Coach who helps women 40+ stop settling and create a life they love! Through 1:1 and group coaching Kelly-Anne helps women reprogram the beliefs that are keeping them stuck, rewrite their self image and amplify their results. She shares meaningful insights and tips to help you live a life you love on Instagram and Facebook.
How do you process and release emotions? This has been a big question in my community lately and I wanted to share with you some practices that I've been using for years now to really help me tune into my body and my inner wisdom and release what no longer serves me. These practices have been life changing for me and I've seen the change in my clients when we start incorporating body work into the mix.
You see, every emotion that we feel and do not process gets stored in our bodies. And most of us don't know how to process emotions so we have decades of emotions that are stuck in our energy body creating havoc on our system.
When you find yourself struggling, feeling anxious, disconnected from yourself, feeling down , your energy is low, when you are sick, these are all clear indications that their is a block in your energy system.
THE ONLY WAY TO START RELEASING AND UNBLOCKING YOUR ENERGY IS TO BRING YOUR AWARENESS AND CONNECT TO YOUR BODY!
Our energy body (system) is the part of us that keeps us healthy, that keeps our life force alive and drives us to follow our purpose and our soul path. It is a vital part of who we are!
Mindset is a huge part of our growth and so important to keep us aligned but we also need to start looking at the intelligence that we have within us. This intelligence is what will guide us to find our joy and fulfilment in our lives.
When we tune into our bodies and the intelligence within:
Working with your inner wisdom, understanding it and how it communicates is going to be key for your transformation and in order to do that we need to start by processing the emotions that are stuck and stagnant.
WE NEED TO FEEL OUR FEELINGS VS THINK OR FEELINGS!
These practices will help you to feel and process the emotions that are ready to release. Have compassion for yourself and truly be gentle with yourself. Processing emotions is hard work. Go into it with a curiosity and free of judgement.
Let's go beyond the thinking mind and into our body to really see what it's trying to communicate with us. Leave the ego and the logic mind at the door and step into a journey of self-discovery and acceptance. Give yourself time and space to truly experience the following practices:
1. BODY KNOWING
Spend some time feeling into your body. Bring your awareness from your thoughts into your heart and start feeling the different sensations. What is happening in your body? What do you feel? What are the sensations? Are you feeling heavy and restricted or expansive and light? Our body is always talking to us through these sensations. Start paying attention to what it's saying. Don't think your way through this... FEEL!
What do you know intuitively? What are you not wanting to see or feel? Be in the present and just feel and release what needs to be released.
Here’s a quick practice to help you get unstuck and process emotions, click here for the video.
2. MOVE YOUR BODY
The easiest way to release stagnant and stuck energies is by moving. Have a dance party, shake your body, do some yoga flow or a workout. Take yourself outside for a walk. Get moving and make sure to bring some awareness to your breath. Be mindful and send it up and down your spine. Let yourself be free!
3. ENERGY HEALING
Through energy healing, we can pin point the emotions that are stuck, the beliefs that are holding you back and the fears that paralyze you. When we look at your energy body and start releasing the blocks, you are opening yourself up to your intuition and your inner guidance. You grow your connection to yourself and find peace within.
If you are ready to explore energy healing and how to tune into your body, let's connect.
4. JOURNALING
Journaling is a great way to get beyond the thinking mind and into your emotional body. What needs to be released that is stuck? What emotions are you keeping at bay to make sure everyone around you is ok? Who are you trying to protect by keeping the emotions in? Let your pen flow as you answer these questions without thinking about it. Let the words spill onto the paper and feel yourself releasing what you no longer need.
Let's bring ourselves back to our natural state of being which is fully connected with our body and the intelligence within. Use these different practices and see how you can strengthen your intuition, your awareness & expand your growth.
These might seem simple but they are SO POWERFUL! Try them and let me know!
Sending you so 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
I have a mentor who shared with me that the word ‘goal’ is one of the most misunderstood words. It really got me thinking and reflecting.
I operated for many years without setting my own goals. I had dreams, but not goals. And GOALS, real inspiring goals, are what will move you towards your dreams.
For most of my adult life, my goal was always to find the next best thing. I graduated college for the first time in 2008, and ended up finding myself working in the restaurant industry. I turned my part-time job that got me through college into my full-time job.
I stayed in the restaurant industry for ten years. Trading my evenings and weekends for money. I grew tired of this and in my mid-twenties decided to go back to school for Public Relations. In 2015 I got my first full time career, a 9-5, what had really been my goal at the time. Let’s just say, this career move was a massive pay cut. That’s when my life started to not make sense. That is when I felt truly lost. And that is when my debts started to accumulate, my anxiety started to rise and I really felt like I had no idea who I was…
Why am I sharing this? Because the more people I talk to, the more I realize this is the most common type of goal. The goal of getting to the next thing. Whether that be a career move or retirement.
Those goals don’t inspire me now and they definitely didn’t when that was my reality.
In 2016 I was introduced to Network Marketing. What this did was open my mind up to goals. REAL INSPIRING GOALS. Goals that change lives! It also opened me up to personal development, which led me to where I am today - a completely different person, living a completely different and improved life. A happier, more fulfilled life. A purposeful life. A life filled with faith, hope, love, joy and alignment.
There are 3 types of goals.
The first type of goals are goals you have already achieved once before. The second type is a goal you think you can achieve. Both of these goals are very logical and also very uninspired. This is where I find most people live. And that is ok, but I want to show people another way. A way that will truly impact every single area of their lives..
Inspired goals are goals that you want to achieve and have no idea how to get there. There is nothing in your current reality that reflects that you can achieve this goal.
When I first set this type of goal, my life started to change. I started to attract the awareness, the people and resources to me to achieve the goal. I started to grow. I changed. I released years of debilitating anxiety, because, through setting these types of goals, I invested in my first mindset coach. This is where everything started to unfold. And where I attracted my current mentor and role on his team, and my life has continued to expand.
The truth is, the goal doesn't change, but sometimes the plan will. The HOW for our goal is not up to us. When we focus on an inspired goal, we really do attract the people and resources to us to gain the awareness we need to achieve the goal. What we are looking for is that awareness, it is also ideas. Ideas that we only find when we grow our awareness, step out and really GROW!
The true purpose of a goal is not actually to get. The purpose is to grow. Growth is where the true unfoldment takes place. And what I have observed over my two-years working in the personal development space, the growth is what attracts the goal.
I have a client who started working with me in the fall of 2022. She was earning around 10K a month in her coaching business. By December, she earned almost $100,000 in one month. That is a fantastic result and definitely a quantum leap. But what is most interesting is watching her grow. She isn’t even the same person as she was even three months prior to that.
Growth is what we are all seeking, whether we are seeking in consciously or unconsciously. My husband mentioned to me once that I had grown so much he didn’t know who I was any more. When he first shared that, it opened my eyes to how much I have grown, but also to the opportunity for us to get to know one another again. Our relationship has never been better.
Are you constantly going after quantum leaps? The truth is, if you are, you are in for the most wild and most amazing ride. Quantum leaps in business always lead to quantum leaps in life. When you grow and expand, everything around you changes. The old model disintegrates to make way for the new model; one that is on a higher frequency. People around you elevate with you. You let go of the old and make space for the new; for what you really want.
I invite you to look at the goal you set for 2023 and ask yourself, is this an inspired or a logical goal? Is this the goal I really want? Is this a goal that is going to stretch me, drive me and grow me?
My life just continues to expand, and yours will too! If you want to connect and start to set bigger goals, and achieve them, reach out! You can book a call with me here and I can help you unlock your true desires!
4 years ago I was working in a cubical barely making ends meet and now I am now living a life I had only once dreamed existed. The how isn’t up to you. Just ask yourself, what do you really, REALLY, want?
Kayleigh Kennedy
Senior Consultant, Sales & Mindset Coach, Conway Consulting
kayleigh@conway.consulting
In a time with so much uncertainty, how do you remain calm and not react to the turbulent situations that seem to arise in the world every day?
How do you avoid the ‘fight or flight’ response in the body when particular circumstances could cause you to feel anxious?
When it feels like nothing is going your way, do you quickly blame others?
When it seems that outside forces are blocking your path, do you give up and think, “I just don’t have what it takes to succeed.” Whether at work, in your relationships, or even with everyday problems, what is your typical reaction to adverse situations? Do you immediately move toward feelings of “Ugh, why me?” Or do you pause and think, “What is my life trying to tell me right at this moment?” or “What is my body trying to tell me right now?”
How you respond to difficult things that have happened to you or are happening around you can mean the difference between a life of anger, anxiety, depression, and despair, or a life of joy, peace, tranquillity, and hope. Especially in uncertain times, forces out there feel beyond our control, and fear can hold us back. Ultimately it is not the unpredictable political or personal circumstances outside of us that determine whether we respond with fear or with peace and hope. Instead, one must accept the reality that external events are not under our control; the only thing we can control is our response to those external events.
One’s perspective of change and the uncertainty that comes with it will determine whether they see it positively or negatively. Great things can emerge from uncertainty, as the next important discovery, realization, or insight.
With change comes renewal, which we see in nature every spring, every sunrise, and every new birth. Everything depends on how we choose to relate to uncertainty, which is just life’s constant stream of new events and challenges. What can allow you to embrace uncertainty is becoming a source of hope, strength, and optimism.
Having hope enables us to place our trust in the belief that with great change comes new possibilities and opportunities. “A pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty,” said Winston Churchill. There is always something valuable that can be derived out of difficulty, adversity, or change. Without this inner strength of hope, we are left to suffer through crises and uncertain times with self-doubt and fear, leaving you feeling weak and afraid. This is not because of outside forces beyond your control, but because of the self-doubt that comes from being disconnected from your true self.
When you are disconnected from your true nature, fear and doubt leave you feeling helpless and insecure. When you doubt yourself, you cannot trust anyone or anything. People who have been wounded by failure in their career, finances, or personal relationships, typically believe circumstances outside themselves are at fault for how they feel or for what happened. Life they feel is unfair, and others cannot be trusted. With that mindset, you have already surrendered your power to the ‘thing out there’ that defeated your hopes.
Being at ease with not knowing what to do or how to react is crucial for answers to come to you. When you are dissatisfied in the unsettled state, you cannot hear the guiding messages from your higher self. Your feelings of fear, worry, and uncertainty are really your spirit’s way of whispering, “I’m in flux. Something is off-balance here.” Feeling anxious or stressed is your body’s way of telling you that what is happening around you is not in alignment with your higher self. This is your body sending you signals to take action to realign yourself with your true nature.
Your inner spirit’s natural state is joy, love, and peace. When we lose touch with our spirit is when we can start to feel negative emotions, have doubts and are not sure what to do. When you do not know what to do, that is the time to get still. Meditation is a practice that can assist with centering yourself and opening yourself up to Spirit. Eckhart Tolle says to wait for a guiding message from your higher self. If you clear space and allow it to come to you, you can reconnect with the peacefulness of your inner spirit. Practicing mindfulness at any point during the day when negative emotions seem to be getting the best of you, can allow you to take a few long, deep breaths and bring you back down to zero in just a few minutes. By centering yourself and ‘being in the now,’ you can connect with your true self who, once secure and grounded, is unmoved by fluctuations in your surroundings.
Especially in times of instability, it is vital for us to remain rooted in the vision of change as a source of hope, creativity, and renewal. Rather than approach uncertainty with fear, worry, and pessimism, try switching your mindset to instead: embrace the new possibilities that can arise; having a confident, flexible response to change (understanding that change is inevitable and a natural part of all life); and finding solutions when problems and obstacles block the way (knowing you have what it takes inside you to rise to the challenge at hand). Take time to participate in activities that you know make you feel calm and at peace, like being out in nature. Mother Nature has a way about her that inexplicably grounds us and makes us feel at peace by just being outside or even by a window.
Exercise is also a sure-fire way to get your happy endorphins released into the body, helping you to relieve stress, ward off anxiety and depression, and improve your sleep. Lastly, listening to music, getting creative (like painting or writing poetry), or reading books can be the escape you need to reconnect with the happy place inside yourself. Choosing these positive responses does not depend on having specific attributes, good luck, or an open schedule. They are awareness skills that with consistent practice are realistic for you to develop until they become a part of who you are and how you live your life.
By changing our mindset, practicing meditation and getting still, and staying connected to our spirit (our true nature), we remain untouched by fear and instead are at one with love, hope, joy, peace, and the Source of infinite life itself. We know that life is unfolding exactly as it needs to, and we can place trust in our true self at every moment to remain grounded in hope, peace, and happiness.
Teresa Greco is a happiness life coach and the host of a weekly internet TV show called “The Steps to Happiness Show With Teresa Greco.” She is an educator and educational technologies consultant with a master’s degree from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Teresa is a 3x best-selling author, and the editor and senior writer at two Canadian lifestyle magazines. As a coach and reiki master, she does public speaking, holds workshops, and mentors others about embracing, honouring, loving, and celebrating their true authentic self and achieving their own personal happiness and fulfillment.
You can follow Teresa on her Instagram page @teresagreco_stepstohappiness and Facebook page, Steps to Happiness with Teresa Greco.
You can also connect with Teresa by visiting her website, www.teresagreco.ca, or by email at stepstotruehappiness@gmail.com about speaking engagements, workshops, and services.
The world will never run out of fears and worries.
When we get older, we are afraid of getting hurt emotionally and physically;
we worry about losing the respect of others;
we fear that we can no longer continue a great relationship with another person;
we are afraid that people may not be who we expect them to be.
And the list could go on and on...
I used to fear and worry a lot. So what did I do? I grabbed onto pieces of advice from others like a life jacket.
Play it safe, my parents said.
Do not be too direct, my ex-friends suggested.
I never thought listening to others could lead to a life of depression and anxiety.
One day, a good friend asked:
Anna. Life is full of many things to be afraid of, but what if there is no tomorrow? What if we die in our sleep tonight?
This hit me hard. The realization that I could never live to see the morning sun gave me a whole new perspective on what I wanted to do for myself. For once, not for others!
So, I started asking myself these questions repeatedly, wondering what I could do at this moment if I did not have another day to live.
If there is no tomorrow, would you bravely tell someone what you admire about them?
Would you loudly say “I love you” to someone before knowing if that person feels the same way?
Would you sincerely praise a stranger?
Of course, we are not just talking about love-bombing people with praises here.
There will be times when letting others know of their short-coming could lead to good results. However, there are things that you do not have to point out to people because they know.
For example:
You do not have to tell someone how they are different from others.
You do not have to tell someone where they come from and where they should be at.
You do not have to tell someone what they should be and should not be doing.
You do not HAVE to. You can if you want.
What we could do more is tell people our appreciation at the moment.
There is a saying used often in the Japanese tea ceremony culture, “Ichigo ichie (一期一會).” “Ichigo” means one life, and “ichie” means one encounter. When you put the two words together, the new phrase points out that we only have one (first) encounter during a lifetime. It also reminds everyone in the tea ceremony to treat each other with their best intention.
I have had a few heart-touching Ichie Ichigo encounters in my life, where strangers weren’t afraid to tell me how much they liked what I was wearing or how much they liked my smile. They passed on their appreciation to me with such sincerity, and I was (and still am) very touched. At that moment, I was happy and would remain as so even if they were lying.
And so I start practicing my version of Ichie Ichigo.
At first, I was shy about receiving praise from strangers because I did not know how to respond to them.
It was not common in my culture to receive praise from strangers or people you barely know. Even if I did, they could be praises made by a salesperson in an attempt to get a sale.
Eventually, with more practice in giving praises sincerely to others, I can see that people are happily surprised by these praises! And I also feel happier delivering them.
There are people whom you may never meet again.
There are things that, if you don’t say them now, may remain forever unspoken.
What kind of impression do you want to leave on this world?
Wishing you all do happy and kind things at the moment because those actions will lead you to a happier life.
Anna Y.C. Chen is a business strategist and coach who helps people turn dreams into businesses. She supports introverted professionals and entrepreneurs to get financially recognized for their products and services and build a well-lived life.
When was the last time you thought to yourself: “I’d like to start a new habit”?
Perhaps it was on New Years Eve, or maybe it was just yesterday.
If you successfully implemented something new and it has become a habit, great work! Creating new positive habits is no easy feat.
If you procrastinated, fell off the wagon, or didn't start at all, have you thought about why?
Perhaps you thought you’d miss out on something fun, told yourself you don’t have the willpower or that there is no way you can keep this up long term, so why bother trying now.
If you were left feeling puzzled or defeated, you’re not alone.
As humans we naturally fall into patterns that make our everyday lives easier, more efficient, or more enjoyable. By doing the same things over and over each day, our body’s memorize behaviours, thoughts and emotions– which become our habits.Our habits play an important role in making us feel safe and comfortable becayse we know what to expect.
Given that they dictate 45-85% of what we do, think, and feel each day, habits carry a lot of weight in the outcomes we see in our lives. So, if we want to see a specific result, we need to think, act and feel with intention. This is where positive habits come into play.
The next time you think about starting something new, try these 5 tips:
1. Start with something that’s important to you right now. Trying to start something new because it’s the latest fad, or because someone else thinks it’s important is not enough ammunition to get a healthy habit going. It has to be something that you value and that is important to you now. It must rank a minimum of 8 out of 10 in significance. If you can’t get yourself to do something, ask yourself honestly, is this important to me right now? Why or why not?
2. Give yourself options. When you have a specific goal in mind, for example, lowering your blood pressure, rather than doing the first thing that comes to mind, make a list of several things that could contribute to your desired outcome. Give yourself some variety. With the blood pressure example, this might look like: eat one additional serving of vegetables daily, meditate for 5 minutes daily, drink 1 additional glass of water daily, use calming essential oils before bed etc. From there, choose the option that you can easily get yourself to do. You can always add more later.
3. Start small. Several books have come out in the last decade that drill down the fact that in order to be successful with a new habit, you must start with something small and doable. The moment our brain feels overwhelmed is the moment that counterproductive thought train starts, leaving us questioning whether we should do this new thing at all. But what exactly is small? Well, rather than starting with a 20 minute daily meditation or reading an entire chapter of your textbook before bed, you might start with 5 minutes of meditation or 5 pages of your book. Pick something that you will inevitably DO. Once you get the initial momentum going and begin to feel confident in your new habit, you can up the ante.
4. Piggyback on something you already do. Habit science tells us that habits are triggered by something else.This means that a habit is essentially a chain reaction. For example: After I brush my teeth I turn on the coffee pot. After I turn on the coffee pot I throw 2 pieces of toast in the toaster, and so on. By attaching your new habit onto something you already reliably do, it has the potential to fit seamlessly into your day.
5. Give yourself credit. All too often we focus on the things we did wrong or failed to do. What if we actually gave ourselves some praise for the things we did do? What if we became more focused on our accomplishments than our failures. How might we think about ourselves then?
Ultimately, we would create a new self-concept. One where we are confident, capable, and reliable. If you truly thought this way about yourself, how might your life be different?
The next time you go to start a new habit, what will you do differently?
Whitney Coupland is a Certified Health and Life Coach. In her coaching practice, Whitney works with those who want to improve their health while still enjoying their life. You can connect with Whitney by visiting her website WhitneyCoupland.com, booking a free consultation or finding her on Instagram @WhitneyCoupland_
I hear a lot of people say they aren't sure who they are, they're unclear on what's important to them, they can't remember what they love doing, and that they just don't have time to figure it out -- even though they know it's important. I believe a lot of this has to do with not making room to listen to our inner wisdom.
Notice I used the phrase "making room". Not taking time, not making time, but making room – meaning allowing your inner-self to expand into your inner wisdom – to literally take up space within your body, your thoughts, and your mind. Take a few minutes and think about that. Close your eyes. What would allowing your inner wisdom to expand within you feel like? What would giving room for your inner thoughts do for you?
Listening (and hearing) your inner wisdom is the truth. It's your truth. It's what will guide you and help you answer all those questions you have about your place in life, your values, what to do next, what's important to you, what you need to thrive and be well, how to create your best life, how to be truly and genuinely you.
The question then becomes how do you make room for your inner wisdom with your busy life, your endless to-do lists, deadlines, responsibilities, children, team members, spouse, exercise, doing laundry and getting the groceries, etc. (the proverbial lack of time)?
Here are 10 ideas to get you started:
1.Sit still (and in silence) for 5 minutes a day. If that feels too long, start with 2 minutes. You can also just stare out the window for a few minutes too and let your mind wander. Or, when you're driving to places, turn off the radio. Just drive in silence observing what you see around you.
2. Read an inspiring or motivational book for 10 minutes before bed.
3. Disconnect from social media for one day per week or reduce the amount of time you spend scrolling each day. Did you know that Canadians spend an average of 1 hour and 46 minutes per day on social media? Social media can be particularly toxic to making room for our thoughts, because often it's a mindless activity.
4. Instead of watching a show, go for a walk. Canadians watch an average of 24 hours of tv per week – that’s over 3 hours per day! Try walking without listening to music or a podcast and see what happens. Better yet, grab a friend and go for a walk date!
5. Spend time in nature – even sitting in your backyard or going to your neighbourhood park and observing the trees and flowers will do wonders.
6. Journal – there are many journaling techniques you can learn about online, but you can start with simply writing down three things you're grateful for each day. This is a simple practice that is extremely powerful.
7. Try meditating, even for just a few short minutes a day. First thing in the morning or right before bed are great times to meditate. The benefits are numerous and very powerful! The most successful people in the world have meditation practices that they do every day. If you’re not comfortable sitting in quiet for a few minutes, try a guided meditation – there are lots of free apps out there – here a few to check out:
8. Do something creative with your hands like colouring, knitting, gardening or baking (again, try doing this without the tv or radio on).
9. Check in on your values. If you're not sure what your core values are, you can get my free worksheet when you sign up for my newsletter that will help you define and clarify your values.
10. Most importantly of all, breathe, and allow your inner wisdom to expand within you. Breathing is the simplest thing that helps in any situation. Breathing calms the central nervous system, it centres us, and brings us into the present moment. Breathing slows down our heart rate. Being intentional with breathing allows us to draw in healing oxygen into our bodies. When we’re stressed our breathing gets shallow and quick so taking a few intentional long slow breaths allows our bodies and minds and hearts to calm. This doesn’t need to take long. Something that works for me is putting my hands over my heart, closing my eyes and taking 3 deep breaths any time I’m feeling a bit stressed, before meetings, or when I want to feel calmer.
I totally get that listening to yourself can be scary, because we've been so conditioned to question ourselves. Doubt can be debilitating. I have felt this doubt many times in my life and this has caused me to spiral into negative thoughts, questioning myself, comparing myself to others, and feeling like I'm not good enough. But, when I make room to really listen to myself, I always get an answer.
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I know that sometimes we need help with learning to listen to ourselves. As a coach this is what I do. I provide space, guidance, and techniques to help women make room for their inner wisdom. Because when they do, they're able to get clear on what they desire, how they want to feel and be, where they want to go, and how to get there. Book a Discovery Call to find out how I can help you make room to listen to your inner wisdom so that you can create the life you want to live.
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Vera Ilnyckyj is a certified Life Coach whose mission is to help women shine their light more brightly. She’s passionate about helping women find clarity about what's important to them, connect with their purpose, and create healthy habits for a genuine and purposeful life.
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 or Instagram and learn more about her at her website.
Like so many people, I have a voice inside my head that tells me all the things I can’t do, it points out my failures consistently and it seems to take great pleasure in pointing out all the ways that I am not capable.
It can be so easy to either simply believe that voice or to hustle and spend all my time trying to prove that voice wrong.
But that is an exhausting way to live, isn’t it?
To always feel like you’re running behind, to always assume something is wrong with you or the way you are doing things and like you are doing everything you can but still falling short.
I have to reflect on why so many of us live that way…why so many of us will endure massive amounts of discomfort and pain and blame and shame instead of simply stepping into our power!
Because the truth is we are all more powerful than we could ever imagine - we just happen to bury that knowledge so deeply that we don’t feel like it’s true.
It reminds me of the beautiful Marianne Williamson quote:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.”
So why are we afraid of our own power? Of our own light?
We are so attracted to the light of others but hide our own away.
The truth is: I don’t know why we live this way, and my guess is that for each one of us the answer is a little bit different.
I also know that answering the why is not as important as simply focusing on the work of accepting our own light, our own power and even our own connection to the divine.
So this month I refuse to be distracted by the question “Why do I do that?”
And instead, I choose to focus on what embodied power looks like, feels like, sounds like and on the impact I can make on others as I live in my own power.
Because the truth is:
“As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
So let’s spend our time on liberation, our own and others - until living in our power and in our light becomes the natural state of the world!
Download your May Affirmation here:
Meg is a Life Coach, Hypnotherapist, and Podcast Host (The Art Of Being H(YOU)man) 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 22 years, two teenage boys and their little dog Charlie.
To learn more about Meg visit her website www.megheppner.com
Every day as I go out to explore my neighbourhood I am bombarded with the sounds, scents, and evidence of spring. Mother Earth is waking up and it truly is a beautiful thing to observe!
In its beauty, there is so much opportunity, creativity and chaos. During winter while the world was asleep and resting there was peace and quiet. But now all has changed!
As much as I love the changes - as much as I have longed for them, I find a part of me is resisting it too!
A part of me is longing to go back to sleep, a part of me is saying the peace and quiet were perfect and a part of me resents them being pulled away from me...
...and it’s made me reflect on how I handle change.
I would love to tell you that I am amazing at handling change - that I always go with the flow, ready to face the uncertainty of the future with grace and style.
But that won’t be the truth. The truth is I love consistency, I love routine and sameness and I love the idea of knowing what each day will look like! If I am totally honest, I really adore the feeling of being in control!
And so even though I long for adventure and even though I value growth, a part of me always hesitates when it’s at my door!
And in that hesitation I find myself telling so many unhelpful stories!
I tell myself that the change and the growth will be harmful, and painful.
I tell myself that nothing will be the same now - as if that’s a bad thing!
And I begin to look for danger: What might not go “right?” What am I going to lose?
What might be uncomfortable?
And so every day I remind myself of this month's affirmation:
“I trust the new things that life is bringing me are gifts for my benefit.”
Albert Einstein famously said that each person must make an important decision in their lives. They must decide whether the universe is friendly or unfriendly.
For so many of us, our natural tendency is to believe the universe is unfriendly - thanks to our ancestors and their need to run from the sabre tooth tiger we are always looking around at what can harm us, what might put us in danger. That’s normal and natural.
But it is not the most beneficial!!
It doesn’t allow us to be our highest self.
It doesn’t allow us to live out the more beautiful world we know is possible!
If we can make the shift from seeing what the world brings us as dangerous, to seeing everything as a gift for our benefit the way that we experience our lives can be completely different!
We can begin to anticipate and look forward to the changes, we can lean into the opportunities, and we can rest in the comfort of an abundance mindset!
So if you are tentatively looking forward to the gifts of spring - the newness, the creativity and the chaos - use this month's affirmation to embrace the experience!
Download your printable affirmation here:
Meg is a Life Coach, Hypnotherapist, and Podcast Host (The Art Of Being H(YOU)man) 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 22 years, two teenage boys and their little dog Charlie.
To learn more about Meg visit her website www.megheppner.com
Making decisions is one of the most empowering things we can do for ourselves. In fact, feeling truly satisfied with our life starts with making intentional decisions.
When we operate on autopilot we are living based on decisions that we have made in the past. From simple things such as the way we like our coffee, to more complex things like who we spend our time with–once we repeat these things several times, they start to become “our usual”.
This is really great when it comes to healthy habit formation because removing the decision making actually keeps us on track. We decide once and then begin to repeat the same thing intentionally each day until the action becomes automatic.
What we need to be cognisant of is the fact that living based on decisions we made in the past might not be conducive to the life we want to live now.
The things we started out doing on purpose can become unintentional over time and then we start to see unintentional results in our lives.
When you think about changing something in your life (which involves making a decision), what comes up for you?
Do you have thoughts like:
Take a moment to consider if these thoughts are true. They may feel true. Especially if they have become ingrained in your belief system by thinking them repeatedly for several months or years.
When we are young, our parents, teachers and other trusted adults make most of our decisions for us. In this way we are conditioned by the people around us and by society. We take on values and ideologies and start living from a place of “shoulds”. The result is that we begin to perceive our options as limited, almost like living in a bubble.
Everything starts being filtered through our worldview and if we don’t take a moment to stop and see the bigger picture, then we miss the opportunity to see a world of limitless possibilities.
Taking a step back gives us the space to think consciously about our lives and our decisions, so that we can start living with intention.
Are you open to taking your power back?
To start making decisions with thought and deliberation?
If the answers is yes, here are some power thoughts to get you started:
I challenge you to do a life audit. To look at each area of life and ask yourself, “would I choose this again”.
You may be surprised at how satisfied you are with your life just the way it is.
Whitney Coupland is a Certified Health and Life Coach. In her coaching practice, Whitney works with those who want to improve their health while still enjoying their life. You can connect with Whitney by visiting her website WhitneyCoupland.com, booking a free consultation or finding her on Instagram @WhitneyCoupland_
Photo By: Brigitte Tohm
What do you think about when March rolls around and Spring is in the air?
When I hear the birds singing, & see the flowers begin to bloom, when the days become longer and I know the animals start to come out of hibernation, I feel a sense of wonder that inspires me to dive deeper within. And by doing so, I've been inspired to write this blog.
Photo By: Ray Hennessy
Why is it important to listen to your heart?
Let's answer this question by analyzing the alternative choice.
We live in an era of high technology & instant gratification, giving us the ability to access the world wide web at our finger tips, so we can retrieve all the answers to our burning questions. When in doubt, ask Google, right?! This seems to be the trend & at times can be useful, however, does this trend serve us on a deeper level? Or do we inadvertently give away our power by taking the easy route and googling anything and everything.
The evidence is clear when you begin to type out your search to find the most popular questions being asked, such as, "What is the meaning of life" or "What is my life purpose?" Although, it can be helpful for some people to get hints from google with these deeper questions, I do feel like this also takes away peoples opportunity to do their own soul-searching or critical thinking. By relying more on technology or an outside source to answer our deep questions, we end up losing touch with our heart and our inner being, which is where your wisdom is accessed.
Photo By: Tim Marshall
Remembering to tune into your heart, & listening attentively, could mean the difference between learning your own lessons or making someone else's mistake. All because you didn't take the time to listen to where your heart was guiding you towards.
At the end of the day, we all have choices to make, and each choice leads us down a different path, a different timeline of your life. Do you want to walk down a path led by the beat of your heart? Or do you want to walk down a path led by the opinions of others?
And, so I ask you, why is it important to listen to your heart?
Blessed Be.
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 laser coaching session today: https://theonecoachsolutions.com/clarity-and-confidence-blueprint/
Oanh is Vancouver's new HHW Branch Director.
Connect with her today:
Let me provoke deeper thinking amongst the masses.
Every single Soul who enters this Earth, has been blessed with a gift, the gift of giving.
It's up to each Soul to rediscover what their here to offer the world more of because what you have to give, matters. You matter, what you think matters, what you say matters, what you do and do not do matters.
Don't dim down your light or hold back your love, receive love & give your love freely because the world needs more love.
With Love & Light.
Thể Oanh Oracle
Character strengths are the building blocks of positive psychology approaches (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). Instead of focusing on one’s shortcomings and dysfunction, an awareness is cultivated of using and developing their strengths to stimulate the helpful behaviour and attitude required for productive change (Niemiec, 2017).
Although others also count, the character strengths of creativity, perseverance, forgiveness, self-regulation, and hope play a determining role in successful and sustainable habit change.
#1 - Hope
Firstly, the motivation to pursue a habit change is inherently based on hope, and optimistic future-mindedness that provides sufficient incentive and expectation of a reward to invest effort in achieving it.
#2 – Perseverance
By definition, habits are routines or patterns of behavior that are ingrained and difficult to change. Most often, they are attached to their own incentives, such as avoiding discomfort or pain, seeking distraction, and looking for external validation. Therefore, success requires perseverance and the ability to moderate and control one’s impulses and emotions (self-regulation).
Persistence in overcoming obstacles and restarting after failures is the mainstay of any worthwhile change process, while resisting the urge to give up and revert back to one’s old ways.
#3 - Forgiveness
Acceptance and forgiveness of one’s weaknesses is vital when facing and managing setbacks, relapses, and sticking points. Without the capacity of self-forgiveness, building and sustaining new habits is onerous and less likely to succeed. In other words, self-forgiveness gives us the capacity to pick ourselves up, face criticism, and defy the odds.
#4 - Creativity
While other character strengths may also play a role in building healthy habits such as perspective, honesty, zest, kindness, gratitude, and social intelligence, the fourth and final strength highlighted here as integral to most instances of personal change is creativity. This means to be adaptive and inventive when identifying and trying new solutions to old, established problems, like unhelpful habits. By seeing and doing things in different ways, one can circumvent or break through sticking points and blocks and “trick” the mind to adopt the new habit more readily.
Recommendations
By doing a few simple exercises every day, a person can develop the character strengths that will enable them to form and sustain habits more successfully. Research has shown that regular practice of just one activity from the list per character strength will have a significant impact on each character strength, with an amplified effect on habit formation.
Hope
Perseverance
Forgiveness
Creativity
Conclusion
If you do some of these things for a few weeks, you are highly likely to notice the positive change in your character strengths of Hope, Perseverance, Forgiveness, and Creativity. Together, in harmony, your ability to introduce and sustain new habits will also increase and you will be more adaptive and resilient to changing external demands.
References
Linley, P. A., Maltby, J., Wood, A. M., Joseph, S., Harrington, S., Peterson, C., Park, N., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2007). Character strengths in the United Kingdom: The VIA Inventory of Strengths. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 341-351. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2006.12.004
McGrath, R. E. (2014). Character strengths in 75 nations. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 10(5), 407–424. DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2014.888580
Niemiec, R. M. (2017). Character strength interventions: A field guide for practitioners. Boston, MA: Hogrefe.
Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. New York: Oxford University Press.
Swart, J. (2020). What do the character strengths of coaching students tell us? Wisdom Magazine, 2. Retrieved from URL.
Amritha is a Forensic Scientist-turned-certified Health and Habits Coach. She helps working professionals break bad habits and build new sustainable ones. They learn to stop procrastinating and take small consistent actions towards managing their time and productivity.
Amritha is enthusiastic about sharing her wisdom as a trailblazer at South Surrey, BC
Join her free Facebook group here where she answers your questions and you learn and grow with like-minded people.
Connect and chat with Amritha on FB and IG at @lifecoachap
