by Carol deLaski | Mar 2, 2018 | Kat Middleton, Personal Development, Self-Care
Have you ever had one of those mornings where you felt rushed, frazzled, and frustrated?
How about the morning when the bed feels so good that you just can’t seem to get up and out of it?
I know I have.
If the morning is stressful, the day just seems to follow.
How did you wake up this morning?
How you awaken each day dramatically affects your success in every single area of your life. If you want to transform your life faster than you ever imagined possible, start by having a Miracle Morning!
What is a Miracle Morning, you ask?
It’s waking up early and going through an intentional self-care routine that provides relaxation, energy, and productivity all before the day even begins.
Hal Elrod, the author of The Miracle Morning, is an impressive man. After being declared dead for six full minutes following a car crash, he was revived in the air, and then stayed in a coma for several days. After waking up, he was told he would never walk again, but miraculously he healed. Then with even more ups and downs in his rollercoaster life, he developed the miracle morning routine.
He said, “Remember, the moment you accept total responsibility for everything in your life is the moment you claim the power to change anything in your life.”
Hal studied the best of the best in conscious self-care practices and found six to be the most powerful, especially when they were bundled together. He calls them the Life S.A.V.E.R.S. He makes it clear that to become successful you have to dedicate time to personal development each day; he also gives us the six-step routine to create and shape that time.
Whether you do 6 minutes or 60 minutes a day, do one, all six, or any combination of the practices that is right for you. It will be like pumping Wholistic Health and Wellness fuel into yourself!
Mornings are an opportunity to start anew–a new day, a new page, and you get to set the tone. Self-care practices increase your health and wellness body, mind, heart, and spirit.
And since that kind of energy is contagious, you will be spreading goodness into the world too. Not a bad way to start the day and make a difference for the better in this world of ours. Here are the six steps to the Miracle Morning:
SILENCE
The idea is to quiet the mind, block out the chatter, and start the day with calm and loving thoughts. Meditation. Prayer. Breathing.
AFFIRMATIONS
Encouraging words to tell yourself to achieve your goals, overcome fears, be healthy and happy and live out your purpose.
VISUALIZATION
Imagine yourself doing each thing step-by-step that you need to do to accomplish your goals. Then imagine what it will feel like when you succeed.
EXERCISE
It doesn’t have to be power lifting or long-distance running. Just do something for a few moments to get the blood and oxygen flowing to the brain.
READING
Fill your brain with positive thoughts and ideas toward self-improvement. Absorb the knowledge of people who have accomplished the things you want to do.
SCRIBING
Writing or journaling is a great way to process your thoughts and reflect on your life. It will help you become more self-aware and more articulate.
These daily rituals allow us to pause, contemplate, concentrate, and celebrate!
Lifesavers indeed!
If you want to learn more about the Miracle Morning, join us this Saturday, March 3, 2018, at Turf Valley for our BE CREATIVE event or read Hal Elrod’s book.
Miracle mornings are a powerful way to live the life of your dreams.
Today’s author: Kat Middleton is a professional certified coach and the founder and CEO of Wholehearted Concepts, LLC. Kat is a Professional Energy Empowerment and Self-Acceptance Coach who specializes in helping clients personally and professionally that struggle with inner doubt, perfectionism and being way too hard on themselves. She is available for private one-on-one coaching as well as group workshops, seminars, and speaking events. Learn more about her at her website: www.wholeheartedconcepts.com
by Carol deLaski | Feb 23, 2018 | Confidence, Elisabeth Vismans
Intuitive Painting
What exactly is that? Who came up with that?
Well nobody came up with it. It exists since human mankind. Remember those cave drawings? Aren’t they fascinating? Humans have always been driven to be creative. It’s part of who we are.
We are all born creative geniuses. The educational system dumbs us down, according to the results of a test developed by Dr. George Land and Beth Jarman to measure the creative potential of NASA scientists. The test was very successful but the question where creativity comes from remained. They subsequently used the test for school children. They tested 1,600 children between the ages of 4 and 5. The tests looked at the ability to come up with new and innovative ideas to problems.
The results shocked them: 98% fell into the genius category of imagination. Wow! The same kids were tested again five years later and only 30% fell into the same category. At age 15, it was only 12%, and as for adults… How much are we in touch with our creative thinking after years of schooling? Only 2%.
What happened? Years of schooling, that’s what happened. Learning how to pick A, B, or C to pass test. How creative is that? Right … not very much.
It’s safe to say that most of us adults have lost our creative touch. We don’t dance, sing, draw, paint, or sit around the campfire telling stories anymore. We are trained to follow rules and work hard. As an art instructor, I hear often from my adult students that they stopped painting when they were six years old. Around that age we start to judge and compare ourselves to others and when a teacher tells us that the kid sitting next to us made this wonderful painting and all the other classmates think so too, we look at our own painting and come to the conclusion that it’s not good. Not good enough. And that we definitely don’t fall into the category of the anointed ones oozing with talent, so the notion of being creative is abandoned.
It took the joy away. And sheer joy helps us to get into deep play, as Martha Beck calls it. It’s about losing yourself, forgetting about time and being a child again. That’s how we learn. We learn new skills. We learn how to deal with what’s in front of us and afterwards we feel accomplished. We all have seen puppies and kittens play. We love those. How many hits do those YouTube videos get when there is a puppy chasing its tail? So funny and charming.
It’s not all play for that puppy though. Being playful is preparing it for real life, for dangers, how to get food and all those things it needs to know. The same goes for us humans. We come into the world and have to learn all those complicated skills. We play, we are being silly, and we don’t care. People even encourage us with gestures, big smiles and telling us how great we are. Until …. yes until our sixth birthday or thereabout. That’s when we start to compare ourselves to others and start questioning our actions. We stop being silly—most of us, anyway. We stop wondering and if our parents tell us we ask too many questions, we stop that too.
Over the years, we lose our sense of wonder. We lose ourselves and many of us feel down and out. We have lost ourselves. Intuitive Painting will get you back in touch with your playfulness. Deep play is what we are going to do in the Intuitive Painting session.
You will get all the freedom you need to unlock your creativity using a brush, your fingers or a paper towel. Just play and have fun. It cleanses your mind like meditating. The only instruction you get is:
Get in touch with your inner child and ENJOY!!
Come experience intuitive painting with us at the Be Creative retreat at the beautiful Turf Valley Resort on March 3! Register soon – we’re getting very close to the event and we would love to see you there!
Today’s author: Elisabeth Vismans is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), an Award-Winning Artist, and founder of Quality Within, helping women in transition to find their life purpose. She developed a unique coaching program using the visual language as an extra modality. She is also an Art Instructor and conducts painting and coaching workshops. Learn more about Elisabeth at her website: www.qualitywithin.com, or from her Facebook page.
by Carol deLaski | Feb 20, 2018 | Podcast
What’s Your Creative Outlet?
by Carol deLaski | Feb 16, 2018 | Casey Clark, Health, Self-Care
If you were asked if you practice personal hygiene, what response would come to mind? Probably something along the lines of “Of course! I take showers. I brush my teeth. I comb my hair. I wash my clothes.”
You probably aren’t having more holistic thoughts about your hygiene and thinking things like: “Of course! I use aromatherapy shower steamers. I use a diffuser every day. I practice yoga twice a week. I soak in the tub after the gym.”
I have posed that same question to many people and once they responded, I asked if they knew the true definition of hygiene. Most responded that hygiene is being clean, when in fact it’s defined as “conditions or practices conducive to maintaining health and preventing disease, especially through cleanliness.”
Notice that the definition includes “especially through cleanliness” and not simply “through cleanliness”. Therefore, maintaining health and preventing disease by being clean is not the only method.
I share all of this with you to say that many of us do not practice emotional, mental, or spiritual hygiene. We focus only on the body because the norm is thinking that hygiene solely involves cleanliness.
When considering hygiene, it’s important to include your mind, body, and spirit. We must take care and be proactive with all three in order to truly live a healthy life. We shouldn’t wait to address intense pain until it’s time to go to the doctor. We shouldn’t have to seek a mental health professional just because we ignored our excessive stress and anxiety. Instead, we need to be proactive and practice taking actions to maintain good health and prevent conditions which impair normal functioning.
Self-care products are a fantastic and popular way we can do that. With health and wellness being on the forefront today, there are several self-care products on the market that can help us be proactive. In this blog, we’re going to focus on those that involve essential oils.
Essential oils are the concentrated essences of various fruits, herbs, flowers, and plants and have been used for centuries. They are one of the greatest untapped resources of the world because our modern world had simply forgotten about the medicinal and cleansing properties of them. Nowadays, they are becoming increasingly popular and should be part of everyone’s regimen. Here are just some of the ways they can help:
- Relieve muscle pain
- Relieve inflammation and joint discomfort
- Reduce the amount of cortisol released
- Relieve sinusitis
- Rid heart palpitations
- Relieve headaches
- Relieve diverticulitis
- Reduce anxiety
There are thousands of essential oils and each have their own benefits, but they also have benefits when used together. For example, clove has antibacterial properties but in order to relieve diverticulitis, you have to use peppermint, chamomile, rosemary, and clove together. Some oils that are commonly used in self-care products are lavender, lemon, orange, peppermint, and eucalyptus.
If you are looking to add essential oils into your daily hygiene routine, you can use them by themselves or make self-care products like bath bombs, bath teas, shower steamers, and bath salts. Bath salts are wonderful products because they can address your mind and body at the same time. For instance, if you use a lavender bath salt, the Epsom salt can relieve muscle aches and pains before it turns into arthritis, the baking soda can help soothe skin irritations before eczema occurs, and the lavender reduces stress to help avoid things like a mental breakdown. Another great benefit to bath salts is that they require you to take a bath, which means that you have the opportunity to be still and shut everything else out: no phone, no book, no music, and no one talking to you.
I encourage you to do some reflecting and see what lurking problems you may have that you don’t pay much attention to before they become something you can’t ignore. If you have physical aches and pains, I encourage you to search for an essential oil that relieves the pain and start including that in your daily regimen. I also encourage you to find an oil that targets your emotions and your mind and add that into your daily regimen. You will be amazed at the difference in how you feel overall!
Today’s author: Casey Clark is an affiliate coach with Wholistic Woman and manages a health and wellness practice, Heaven On Earth, which focuses on self-care. Having been a student and working, both full-time, Casey has a deep understanding for the importance of self-care and is committed to helping those who lead busy lives, especially young professionals, accomplish prioritizing self-care so that they can live a holistically balanced, well and fulfilled life. She uses her own experiences as a motivator to help her clients achieve lasting, self-compassionate change that is aligned with their values. Find out more about Casey at her website: www.aheavenlyyou.com
by Carol deLaski | Feb 9, 2018 | Health, Kim Wilson, Self-Care
As we move into the month of February, we are surrounded with different symbols that some may think represent LOVE. We are surrounded by pink hearts, chocolates, and romance shooting at us like cupid’s arrow. Whatever you feel about relationships and love, I want to shed light on another important kind of love. “Self-Love” is something that many put on the back burner but should be exercised often. No matter the day, month or year.
How many times have you said that you’re too busy to incorporate self-love? There isn’t enough time in the day, your workday is long, the kids and your husband need to come first, the dishes are piling up and the laundry needs to be folded. Do you mention any of these common reasons? Maybe you have a laundry list of your own. Even though life is busy, it’s still important to incorporate self-love. It’s also important to remind yourself that making self-love a priority is not a selfish act. If anything, when you exercise self-love, not only will you benefit, but those in your life will benefit as well.
Self-love is a positive regard for your own happiness and well-being. It leads to increased strength and responsibility, mindfulness, increased productivity, increased self-compassion and decreased stress. Studies have shown that when you practice self-love, you are more likely to engage in activities and a lifestyle that contributes to better nutrition, physical fitness and overall improved health.
When thinking about self-love, two examples spoke volumes to me, especially during a time in my life when I was lacking a great deal of self-love and placing everyone else before myself. The first is the “airplane instruction” example. When traveling on an airplane, we are taught to place and secure our mask before assisting and caring for others. When I first gave this thought some more detail and depth, I immediately thought it was selfish. Then I began to understand the concept more and definitely now see how much it relates to self-love. Our journey can be quite the education tool and reminder.
The second example is the “you cannot pour from an empty cup” concept. In relationships and life, women especially find themselves burnt out and exhausted because of constant care and responsibility to others. It’s important to constantly ask yourself, “How full is my cup?” If you’re feeling depleted and burnt out, it’s time to add some self-care and love. Doing so consistently will help to keep your cup full and help you maintain better health and happiness.
It’s important to remember to treat yourself with the same love and compassion that you would show to someone you’re in love with. The more you care for yourself, the better equipped you will be to give back to and empower others. The more you give, the more you will receive in return.
Self-love and self-care are much of the same. Below are some tips that may help you incorporate self-love in your own life. I encourage you to try to incorporate at least one act every day. In time, it will become more natural and you will reap the many benefits. Remember, this may be the month of LOVE, but self-love is something to exercise and embrace all of the time. You don’t need a large budget or a lot of time. Keep it simple, gentle, and see what works for your own unique, beautiful self.
Tips for Practicing Self-Love:
- Practice Gratitude: A daily gratitude journal is a great way to express those things you are grateful for.
- Self-Acceptance: No matter where you are on your journey, it’s important to tell yourself, “I am enough.” There is nobody like you and that’s what makes you so special.
- Take Time to Be Alone: Being alone with yourself is important when exercising self-love. Take a relaxing bath, go for a walk by yourself or curl up and read a good book.
- Make A List of the Things You Love About Yourself: Too often, the self-sabotaging critic is running crazy in our minds. Whether it’s the critic or the “business” that keeps us from forgetting, take time often (or daily) to read your list.
- Accountability and Support: Exercising self-love can take some work. Especially in the beginning. Creating a support-system you trust or finding an accountability partner could be very beneficial.
- Find the Joy in Today: Instead of rehashing or reliving anger and shame from the past, focus on the joys of the present.
- Allow Yourself to Dream Big: Is there something you’ve always wanted to do? Now is a great time to explore without placing limiting beliefs and judgement on yourself.
- Find Those Things That Inspire You: Passion, purpose and inspiration are big components of life. What ignites your spark? What things can you do to feel inspired?
- Nourishment and Movement: Fueling your body with foods that nurture you will not only help you feel better but will empower you to take care of YOU! The same goes for movement. It doesn’t have to be rigorous exercise. Find what you like and maybe try something new.
- Celebrate Your Success: No matter how big or small your accomplishments are, celebrate them!
Today’s author: Kim Wilson is a Certified Holistic Health Coach (CHC) and owns her own business, Kim Wilson, LLC, which specializes in empowering and educating women to get to the root of what’s going on with their own unique, individual body. She works with women one-on-one and coaches through online groups and programs. Learn more about Kim at her website www.kimwilson.me, from her Facebook page, or find her on Instagram.
