Healing is a deconstructive process to get back to the core of who you are underneath all the layers of adaptation. When the body is under stress – be it emotional, physical, spiritual, it puts up defense mechanisms in order to adapt – hence, “layers of adaptation.” I see this all the time on my own healing journey and with clients. They ask, “Didn’t I already deal with this? I thought that this part of me was healed, why is this coming up again?” Sometimes it feels like we just come full circle with an issue. We see the same traumatic situation from every angle before it is completely integrated and healed. This is because there is so much healing potential to be harnessed from difficult situations. Without difficulty, we would actually be quite weak and one dimensional.
Are You Addicted to Progress?
When was the last time you REALLY celebrated how far you have come instead of worrying about how much further you have to go? Are you overly critical of your progress in life? Remember that cheesy saying – “progress not perfection” – Sometimes we mistake our unconscious need for perfection for a healthy and natural drive toward progress.
Relationships Are Our Biggest Mirrors
Relationships – our biggest mirrors, our biggest triggers, and therefore our BIGGEST catalysts for healing. The behaviors that trigger us in others are alerting us to inner wounds that have yet to be transmuted and healed. Sometimes these behaviors can be lost aspects of ourselves that we need to integrate, sometimes they are reminders of painful relationships from the past. There are always going to be specific patterns that continue to show up and trigger us because it is a call for healing.
Is Instant Gratification Culture Negatively Impacting Your Goals?
I can admit that I have struggled for a long time with successful goal-setting, and I started to reflect this year on why that could be. Slowly over time, I’ve realized that the goals I start with often feel too lofty and unachievable. In other words, I don’t believe deep down that I can accomplish said goal. And in this article, I’ll talk of the importance of scaling back and starting smaller because the loftier the goal, the more time it will take for you to accomplish it. And the more time it takes to accomplish a particular goal, the more room there is for many hurdles along the way. And the more hurdles there are, the more chances you have to give up. This can have a really negative impact on your self-esteem in the long run and will discourage you from setting goals in the future. But I think there’s a reason many of us are locked into operating this way that maybe you haven’t considered…
Why Weight Loss Shouldn’t Be Your New Year’s Resolution
The clock strikes midnight and you’re already thinking of how you’re going to start the first morning of 2018 with a green smoothie and a matcha instead of a bagel and a large coffee. Dread begins to make its way in and you block it out of your mind, returning to the party to linger in holiday bliss for just a little while longer. It will be worth it, you tell yourself. I’ll finally lose the 20 lbs that I resolved to lose last year. And the year before that. I’ll finally fit into that dress stashed away in the back of my closet.
Everything Dies & Everything Ends : A Lesson from the Forest Floor
As the smoke continues to come barreling into Portland, I gaze out the window at a hazy sky. The sun is on fire and the forests are burning. Ash rains from the sky and covers cars, vegetable gardens, people, animals, everything. It is relentless and unforgiving. It does not judge or discriminate. It simply falls.
Feeding the Intellect in 2017
I am absolutely one of those people whose bookshelf is filled to the brim with 50% unread material. Yet I continues to make lists of books that I MUST read day in and day out. My mind tends to grab on to and obsess over a certain subject for weeks at a time but the novelty wears off and I’m on to the next subject. NO MORE! Here is my 2017 checklist of what I will be feeding my brain(and mastering!) in the new year.