Wellness Blog
Learn how to tap into the power of your mind for healing and transformation in this short video!
I’m getting more and more excited to publish my first book… I wanted to share just a glimpse into my story that will be continued in the book.
When I scheduled my elective surgery for June of 2004, I had absolutely no idea that anything was wrong with me. As far as I knew, I was a healthy 24 year-old who simply was finally going to get the breast reduction that I had wanted since I was 16 years old. Although I was apprehensive about what is still a major surgery and unsure how painful my recovery would be, I was looking forward to the end result.
As the day of my surgery approached, I went through the standard pre-op procedure. Appointments with my surgeon, pre-op blood-work, and waiting for the day of the surgery to arrive. Then the night before my surgery, I received a call from my surgeon. He told me that he had received my pre-op bloodwork back and that the results looked abnormal. My heart began to race…
The surgeon first said that it could be some sort of error with the lab results themselves and asked me to return to the hospital to have the tests run again to make sure of what was going on. Panic was beginning to wash over me. I tried to stay hopeful that it was just a lab error or glitch but hearing something looked “off” was unnerving. We repeated the labs and they showed the same abnormal results.
Another call from the surgeon confirmed that surgery needed to be cancelled because there was something “wrong with me.” The surgeon said I should follow up with my primary doctor as soon as possible to investigate what was going on. My mind was racing. “I feel fine… I feel absolutely fine. What the hell is going on??”
The next day I saw my primary doctor who ordered more bloodwork to try and figure out what was going on. After the labs were drawn, I went home to await the results. I was filled with anxiety about what the lab tests would show was wrong with me. It felt like I had woken up in the middle of a nightmare. Again, it made no sense how I could feel completely fine and yet be told that something big was going on with my health.
Next thing I knew, I got a phone call from a gastroenterologist who I had never heard of asking me how I was feeling. “I feel ok,” I said as I felt a wave of panic rising up over me. He replied that since I wasn’t feeling any symptoms, it was ok to stay home that night but that I should report to the local hospital first thing the next morning, where I would be admitted, and he would see me there. Then he told me “If you start to feel any symptoms, come to the hospital tonight.” Well that was certainly unnerving to hear… I suddenly felt like a ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment.
I was completely shaken after this phone call from an unknown doctor and I waited nervously, continuously scanning through my body to make sure I felt ok until the next morning. In my mind I wondered what exactly I should be looking for in terms of symptoms but no mysterious symptoms appeared as I scanned my body repeatedly through the day and evening. What followed was a long afternoon, evening, and night of waiting and wondering but I was still feeling fine on a physical level so I didn’t report to the hospital until the next morning.
I hope this glimpse into the beginning of my story has peaked your attention and you will be excited to read more. Stay tuned for future sneak peaks into my story and my new book!
One of the most common questions that I get asked about distance sessions is “Are they really as effective as in-person sessions?”
Rather than giving you my opinion, I have created a short interview with one of my clients, Jean Koncos, owner of At Vancouver Massage, about her experience of working both in-person with me and with distance phone sessions.
The video is only about 5 minutes so take the time to watch it and see what she has to say!
Last week I returned from the International BodyTalk Association conference in Florida. This was my second time attending their conference (both have been amazing experiences!) and I want to take a little time to share with you a particularly profound experience I had while attending the conference.
On the instructor’s day of the conference, I was asked by one of the speakers, Tracey Clark, if I would be willing to be the volunteer person she used during her talk the next day. Since I have a deep love of the BodyTalk system and am always up for receiving a session, of course I said yes!
Before the end of that day, Tracey gave me an intake form to complete and asked me to bring it with me the next day and so I did.
The next day, Tracey began her talk, which was based on her doctoral research about the power of observing possibilities and potentials for change in creating healing. After she shared the fascinating results, she called for me to come to the stage.
Tracey then did an initial assessment of range of motion using different osteopathic range of motion tests. The range of motion showed some limits in my left arm and shoulder, heaviness and tension in my legs, and restrictions in breathing.
After getting the baseline, Tracey handed me the first half of my intake forms, which was the portion that focused on my health issues and symptoms and the negative impact they have on my life. She asked me to tuck those forms into the waistband of pants and then did a reassessment of the same measures of rang of motion she had just done.
What do you think happened to my range of motion?
It actually got worse! I could feel it, Tracey could feel it, and so did the other person she brought on stage to do all of the assessments along with me. Even the people in the audience could observe the difference.
This was the power of focusing on the negatives of health challenges…
After completing the range of motion tests, Tracey then asked me to remove the first part of the intake from my waistband and then gave me the second half of the intake to tuck into my waistband. The second half of the forms focused on questions like “Do you believe your body can heal itself?” and “What will your life be like when these health problems are no longer an issue for you?”
After I had tucked the papers into my pants, Tracey once again reassessed using the same range of motion tests.
What do you think happened this time?
My range of motion DRAMATICALLY improved! My left shoulder, which typically feels a bit of discomfort with certain movements, did not hurt at all. My legs became much easier to lift. My breathing improved.
My low back, which had been hurting since the day before, when from about a 6 out of 10 to a zero! Several people told me my whole complexion changed.
This was WITHOUT any actual “treatment” through a BodyTalk session. This was the power of simply focusing on the potential for healing and improvement.
My mind (and the mind of many others) was definitely a bit blown by the power of simply observing possibilities! And this was in a room full of BodyTalk practitioners who observe powerful transformations on a regular basis!
I hope that sharing this has inspired you to realize the power of simply being open to possibilities for positive changes in our lives AND focusing on the positive outcome we are desiring!
April was a month of big expansion for me personally and also for my business. I was speaking and sharing my work in a much more public way. I was stepping into my intention for 2017 of expanding and shining my light brightly and I was starting to feel a big surge of momentum in new clients and visibility for my business.
Then, about 2 1/2 weeks ago, my husband started to develop some significant pain in his feet. My focus has shifted to him as we search to uncover the cause of what is going on and get him relief from the pain.
I have experienced this pattern before in my life and business where momentum builds up, I feel like I’m really getting somewhere and then “something” happens…
In the past, I’ve said that I’ve been “de-railed” by something in my life. But last week, I was talking to my business coach about this pattern that I’ve experienced multiple times over several years. She gain me some great advice and said, “What if you shift your mindset around this and don’t view it as ‘de-railing’ you but instead a natural cycle of contraction after expansion?”
Those words were a very helpful mindset shift for me. You see, I have created a pattern and belief that “Whenever things start getting good, something in life just de-rails it…” In a way, this belief creates a “Why bother?” mentality and it also makes it a bigger deal that it needs to be.
Life happens. People get sick, family members die, someone loses their job… the list goes on and on. It is easy to say those things can “de-rail” us when in reality they are just life being life.
Nature is wise because it understands the cycle of expansion and contraction. Expansion cannot exist without contraction. Even though the seem to be opposites, the really are part of a cycle. A tree must let go of its leaves in the fall to make way for something new to come after a period of dormancy in winter.
So I’m making a major mindset shift and choosing to view this time as simply a time of contraction and life being life. I’ve made huge gains in the past 6 months, grown a lot, pushed myself out of my comfort zone. I’ve stepped into being a public speaker, supported many amazing clients, learned how to use live video in my business and so much more… And just because life is being, well, life, that doesn’t take away any of those things that I’ve accomplished. Those things don’t magically disappear.
It is ok for me to honor a time of contraction from putting as much energy into my business so I can honor my need to support my husband. Honoring that allows me time to be present for him. And it is also bringing me gifts like getting inspired to start writing my very first book!
I hope that this blog post inspires you to shift your mindset when life feels challenging and to honor that it is ok to pull back your energy from certain things to make room for others. I hope you are inspired to realize that contraction is a natural part of the cycle of energy and it is not something to be feared.
If this post helped you, please share it. And please comment with you own stories of expansion, contraction, and mindset struggles.
Learn more about how the Water Element is associated with the Kidneys, Bladder and Fear in this short video.
Learn more about the connection between the Metal Element, the Lungs and Large Intestine and Grief. In this video, I also talk about the beneficial parts of grief as an emotion.
In this short video, learn more about what worry has to do with the Spleen and Stomach and how worry can actually have a positive function.
Watch this video to learn more about how joy and sadness are connected to the Heart and Small Intestine in Chinese medicine. Also, learn about how sadness can be a good thing at times.
This is the first in a series of short videos exploring the connection between the Chinese Five Elements, the organ system in the Chinese Medicine philosophy and our emotions. I hope that you find it helpful to look at your emotions from a different perspective.
Please note that these were done as Facebook live so there is a little bit of chit chat and interaction at the beginning.