why you need a community

A Prayer for You

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A Prayer for You

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It’s always the right time to be grateful. And this week, for millions of Americans, Thanksgiving is a time of connection with family, and a time to bow our heads in gratitude for all that we have.

It is also a time loaded with cultural and political strife. How can we give thanks when so many are suffering, when so much seems to be going wrong in our country, when discord is the new slogan whether you find yourself on the right, left or anywhere in between?

My heartfelt wish for you, at this time of the year, is to spend some time with yourself.

Perhaps, take some quiet time to gently listen to your own being without judgment.

I read somewhere that to observe oneself without judgment is the highest form of human intelligence.

Make it a special moment for you, to quietly sit and take a few contemplative steps back to view your world from a slightly different perspective. Open your peripheral vision.

Is it possible to be thankful and also feel the pain of others at the same time?

I think so. There is space within us to feel many emotions at once. My sense is that letting go of judgment, blame, resentment and anger is inherently healing.

Maybe that a helpful prayer to all living beings and things this Thanksgiving can be as follows:

Great Spirit,

Please use me as an instrument of your wisdom to carry in my heart a temperament that is mild.

Let All beings be free from pain. Let peace reign amongst all Living Things. Let the love in our hearts reach out to one another so that we may hear each other’s cries for acceptance, tenderness and understanding.

From my heart to yours…..

Know that you are deeply loved. You are appreciated. You are always safe.

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Can Your Body Really Heal Your Mind?

If you had suggested to me, the idea that “your body can heal your mind” about ten years ago, I would have probably agreed with you. I would have agreed with you because I believed it.

Today, this concept is no longer simply a belief. I have actual proof that the body can and does heal the mind. This happens when your body is in a deep state of relaxation. When you slow down long enough to connect with your breath and allow for a gradual release to come over you.

As you let the weight of your body widen your back, form the top of your head to the back of your heels, your mind also releases the confines of its thinking structure to mimic your body.

When you are in this state, the best thing that can happen next is to receive a loving and connected touch. In my case, that shows up as an integrative bodywork session.

As we address and move through areas of your body that may be feeling pain or discomfort, a shift also occurs in your mind.

It’s called the Body-Mind connection.

A shift can and usually also occurs on an emotional and spiritual level.

And what I mean by spiritual is that your spirit, your animae, what animates your body, also know as your vital life force will also experience a shift in consciousness.

A shift in consciousness is a shift in the body.

A shift in the body is a shift in consciousness.

By now, as you may have guessed it, as your body progresses into releasing any pent up stiffness, tightness, tension and/or pain, this sense of relief is communicated to your brain through your nervous system where a synchronicity of surrender occurs.

Let me give you an example….

You’re sitting at your desk for several hours. All of a sudden you realize that you are completely hunched over your desk, your head is protruding away from its central axis and you are feeling pain.

You step away from your desk, take a couple of deep breaths, do a few head rolls, maybe even roll all the way to the floor and get a good, long stretch in your legs, back and neck.

Suddenly, your mind is clearer. It feels like there’s a little more space living in your body. You grab a drink of water, slowly walk back to your desk and get back to work.

That….that was your body healing your brain.

You’re sending currents of energy throughout your body, you are inviting more movement both musculo-skeletally but also throughout your nervous system.

When you receive integrative bodywork, you discover a new way to communicate information to your brain.

It’s all happening in the “soma”, in your body first. And that’s important because in this way, you get to create a deeper relationship with your-self. Literally.

And that’s important because you can learn to take better care of your body and therefore, develop a deeper connection to your body, which invites a deeper understanding of their relationship.

Essentially, the power of this work is to get you to slow down enough to hear what your body is saying. It’s in that listening that you can change how you react and deal with pain… and in the process you get to release your mind and enliven your spirit at the same time.

Why Happiness is Sexy

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It’s true that the best of times may not necessarily be shining brightly upon our planet at this moment.

Floods, fires, murderous attacks, devastation…..Nothing to be happy about really.

But here’s the thing, there is also waking up every morning and breathing, there are weddings, births, graduations, Broadway shows, motorcycle rides, family reunions, the love of your children and spouse and so much more that brings us happiness.

In my bodywork and coaching practices, clients have been sharing that even though they feel happiness in their lives, that they are also experiencing feelings of guilt and shame about feeling happy.

How can we be happy when so many need help, when so many are suffering?

Maybe that you too are feeling a sense of helplessness within. That in the bigger scheme of things, desperation seems more appropriate than hope. That in fact, we are doomed and that the “dark side” has finally taken over!

Here’s the good news: it is ONLY through the tumultuousness of the dark side that we can find our light. It is only through our shadows that we can crawl our way into the light.

Our shadow side is infinitely intelligent. It’s like Leonard Cohen’s timeless quote, “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”

Please allow me to remind you, with much love and respect, that we are not doomed. That in fact, we have not even begun to realize our greatest inner potentiality.

Based on some of the newest neurobiology research, science is uncovering a multitude of intricate machinations in our neuro-synapses, each igniting a specific part and functioning of our brains.

That means that we can feel sad, helpless, overwhelmed and simultaneously feel happy, in love, and joyful. How about that!

We have the capacity to experience these emotions in our brains and more importantly, in our hearts. We have the power to shift our state of being in a moment’s awareness.

All we need to do is to become aware of our state, of our thoughts, of our fears and of our bodies. It really is that simple but why does it seem so difficult to cultivate awareness?!

Well, it’s because it requires focus, attention, intention and a true desire to leverage ourselves. What I’m saying is that it requires actual work.

Developing a heightened state of awareness requires practice and dedication.

Please listen to me: YOU ARE INFINITELY POWERFUL!

You have the capacity to transform your environment by your language and actions every single day. YOU, yes YOU have this super power within you.

So, my question is: WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!

Happiness is SO sexy! We want more of it not less so don’t ever feel guilty about feeling happiness. Instead, practice random acts of kindness and watch your guilt dissipate.

Here’s the thing: you are either one heck of a happy person who is focused on transforming her environment every day or you are criticizing someone who is ridiculously happy and transforming her environment every day.

I am inviting you to join me and thousands of others who have chosen to be happy and consequently, sexy ;-).

I’m making it easier than ever to join one of my monthly coaching calls and practice coming into community to share of yourself.

Just sign up below and join a group of really amazing people who are committed to having real conversations around real topics.

The antidote to fear, anxiety, guilt, and feeling hopeless is sharing of your presence in a safe and loving COMMUNITY.

In addition to my coaching call this month, you are invited to join us LIVE for my Mindful Communication Event offered on Friday, 10/27/17. Please see the details below.

As always, continue to follow your path. Be bold and dare to be happy for no good reason at all.

Choosing fear and anxiety does not help you or anyone else.

Know that you are not alone.

There is infinite hope. There is an incredible bright light at the end of the tunnel.

Join our community today!

With Love,

The Power of Community…. and Why You Need One

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I have just returned from a weeklong journey in Mount Shasta, CA to be with my Hellerwork community.

Since several of us were attending, I decided that it would be a good opportunity to document as much as I could about our work. With the support of my community, I attended with my videographer and forayed into my first attempt at creating a documentary of Joseph Heller’s life and his work. Fun stuff!

This was Hellerwork’s continuing education workshop where Joseph Heller, now 77 years old, taught a workshop on what he calls “Gravi-dynamic”. Joseph Heller is an innovator. He continues to explore, research and offer new ways to expand Hellerwork.

I am entering my ninth year as a Hellerwork practitioner. Within my community, I am still a baby practitioner as many of my colleagues have been practicing for 20 or more years.

What is remarkable about this community is the support and the openness to make space for others. It’s not as if everybody agrees on everything. It’s not all unicorns and rainbows. But it is about an intention to intelligently communicate, emotionally connect and speak from a heart-centered place.

In fact, the entire premise of Hellerwork is to work from a heart-centered place. What this means is to go beyond the intellect and to speak and listen from a space of compassion. Within the Hellerwork community, our goal is to communicate with each other with empathy.

If you’ve ever tried it, you’ll know that this is not always easy. Still, it is within your community that you can practice these skills and develop your emotional intelligence.

Your community is the key to your growth and success as a human being. What I mean by success here is your capacity to live a fulfilling and meaningful life.

Your community is who you surround yourself with. It is who influences you, who assists you in seeing who you really are, who is capable of loving you unconditionally and at the same time offer you guidance and support.

Think of the five closest people to you.
Do these five people love and support you?
Do they offer you valuable feedback?
Do they lift you up?
Do they encourage you to go beyond what you think is possible?
Are they honest?
Do they model and value integrity?
Do they take care of themselves physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually?
Are they open or closed -minded?
Are you inspired by them?
Do they motivate you?

A great community will support you in being accountable, they will push you to excel and congratulate you when you do!

Think of it this way: your community is the ground upon which you stand. If your ground is shaky or too hard, if the ground you stand on is like quicksand, if it is unstable, it is unlikely that you will be able to forge ahead successfully.

Be honest and take a mindful inventory of who you surround yourself with. This is not an exercise in criticizing anyone. Instead, it is an opportunity for you to review who you choose as your A-Team.

If the closest people to you criticize you without offering valuable feedback for your growth, if they are negative, if they are miserable, if they are shut off and unable to expand their own vision of what is possible then it is possible that you too mirror these beliefs even subconsciously.

Life is an endless network of limitless possibilities. If you are not attaining your goals, it is either because you don’t know how and that you are not choosing the right people in your life who can propel you forward. Remember: you are in charge of your life and of who you choose as your support system.

Make a decision today and choose to surround yourself with innovative thinkers, risk takers, inspiring creators, and people who will support you from a heart-centered place along the way.

If you are ready to take the next step, go ahead and reach out to me. I offer 15-minute FREE consultations where we can have a conversation about your goals and aspirations.

We’ll go over how it can be possible, for you too, to be a part of a community of people who are looking to expand their own consciousness and grow themselves into the person that they are really meant to be on this earth.

I hope to hear from you soon!

With love,

A Prayer for You

A Prayer for You

Can Your Body Really Heal Your Mind?

Can Your Body Really Heal Your Mind?

Why Happiness is Sexy

Why Happiness is Sexy

The Power of Community…. and Why You Need One

The Power of Community…. and Why You Need One

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