If I were to tell you that there is a way to release past pain without seeing a therapist or spending hundreds of dollars on self help books. Would you consider updating your beliefs about how healing is “supposed” to happen?

What if you could release your personal history so that your past pain no longer consumes your energy, allowing you to finally step into the vision you have for yourself.

Many of us carry our life’s experiences on our backs. At times, we may be inspired to put our burdens down but invariably, I find that most women choose to pick up their burdens again. Perhaps it’s because they do not know they have a choice.  Or perhaps it’s just because they don’t know how to let go – to really LET GO

While we have become the amazing women that we are because of these experiences, many of us know that there is a Woman inside of us that is much lighter and brighter, if only we could find a way to process our most painful experiences so they no longer limit us.

I have a little rule that when I hear about something three times, it’s the universe’s way of nudging me to take a closer look. I have come to accept that there is Divine significance in nearly everything, if we are willing to pay attention.

When I first heard about Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT, a friend had suggested I use it to help me through a period where I was experiencing a lot of sadness. She explained that I could tap my body  in specific areas and this would help me feel better. I was skeptical that tapping my body would alleviate any of my emotions and so I thanked her but did not pursue it further.

The second time was nearly a year later when I read about it on Evelyn Lim’s insightful blog Abundance Tapestry. Because I enjoy Evelyn’s perspective she had my attention, but I was still skeptical. a Tapping therapy to release emotional or physical pain? Seemed far fetched, even for a mystical gal like myself.

Finally, I decided to give Emotional Freedom Technique a closer look after I received a brand consultation from Lana for my personal transformation blog Kiss the Bliss. She suggested tapping with EFT may help me overcome some lingering & limiting beliefsthat were preventing me from stepping into my power.

The Emotional Freedom Technique

EFT, developed by Gary Craig, is also known as emotional acupressure. It works along specific energy meridians to relieve and alleviate blocked or undigested energy through a repeated process of tapping lightly.

In all of life’s experiences, but usually the most painful ones, we were not given the opportunity to express or experience what has happened. Perhaps it is because your family is uncomfortable with certain emotions, perhaps it’s because you were too young to make realistic conclusions about what happened or there was no one available to you that could accept your feelings and guide you through the experience.

Releasing Undigested Experiences with a Tapping Therapy

When we cannot process the full realm of the experience, aspects of the experience remain “undigested” – that is, the energy of the emotion get’s buried deep into the tissue of your body. In Yoga, mindful Yogini’s will affirm that through the flow of postures, as the body moves and squeezes up against sensitive spots on the body such as the hips, lower back and chest (heart center) energy is released. If we are paying attention we will notice that the energy carries a certain frequency or feeling tone. It could be grief or sadness or anger, generally the ones that are not culturally acceptable. If we continue to pay attention and not get dragged into the drama the mind creates as we nudge up to this energy, we can safely allow these intense feelings to pass through the body.

EFT tapping therapy works in a similar way. By tapping therapeutically on energy meridians in the body while recalling an event and repeating a phrase that relates to your actual experience, the undigested emotion or energy surrounding the event is released and is guided out of the body is a relatively quick and pain-free way.

Once an event has been tapped and cleared, details that would otherwise would cause an emotional reaction either fade from memory (within minutes!) or no longer cause the same intense emotional reaction as before.

What Happens When The Energy From the Old Trauma Is Cleared?

When the energy around traumatic events are cleared with EFT, an empty space appears within the body, mind and soul that is no longer  occupied with the energy tone of a painful event. The body is able to relax, as well, the mind and soul, and a doorway is opened where peace and joy are able to penetrate into areas of awareness that were previously preoccupied with the pain (or the avoidance of pain.)

I have never had very much childhood memory, reaching all the way into my preteen years. As I work with EFT tapping, I am beginning to have little insights and childhood memories. One such memory was when I was three years old, trying to process why my Mother would leave me. A toddler sized memory, complete with a specific feeling and a very immature rationale, flooded into my awareness.  I remembered deciding that she had left me to be another little girls mommy because I was “bad”. I was then able to recall and tap the actual thoughts and feelings I had as a toddler (without the same emotioanal attachment)that were previously buried from my memory, allowing myself to express what I was never able to a little girl. The process took about 15 minutes. After, the specific memory I recalled faded from memory and I felt light and positive again.

EFT is also highly effective with children and Tappy is used around the world with injured and terminally ill children. My own daughter still taps on her own (4 years old) when she wishes to master her emotions!

Radical Acceptance IS Authenticity

Emotional Freedom Technique is also a safe way to begin living authentically. With EFT you state your actual experience, not the one you wished you had. By stating your actual experience, no matter what it is, you are allowing yourself to BE rather than meeting an ideal you have set for yourself. For those of us who have a strong inner critic, this may be the first time we have been able to accept our experience without judgment. How powerful!

Allowing yourself to BE is also powerful activator of your inner knowing. When we free ourselves from the habitual process of denying our experience, a little space is created where we can relax. It is within this relaxation that we begin to hear Divine’s voice speaking and guiding us.

In stating our actual experience through EFT tapping it is important to affirm that even though we feel whatever we feel (ie: perhaps even the desire NOT to forgive or feel good right now about anything )we choose to accept and love ourselves anyway.

It is said that one act of self love in a day can offset the energy created from an entire day of negative thoughts. That is how powerful Love is, so when we begin to really grasp how powerful it is to forgive and love ourselves anyway, this authentic acceptance of oneself can then ripple into our families, communities and the world. Change truly does begin within!

Emotional Freedom Technique, Quantum Healing & the New World

When we work with energy meridians by tapping with EFT, not only are we healing our own perspective but we have a powerful opportunity to forgive those involved in our trauma, but without any personal contact. Remember, forgiveness is not about the other person, it is about YOU however when you work with energy in any way, the other person also receives healing. This is possible through the process of entanglement, the discovery that two atoms although separated, continue to respond to each other and act in such a way as though they are still connected. Pretty cool!

This is a powerful way to look at our relationship to all things. Through healing ourselves we alter our own energy field, which helps others heal, which in turn effects the entire energy pool of humanity’s consciousness.

So, perhaps it is time to reevaluate our beliefs about what is possible for personal healing?

Is it really effective to spend years and hundreds of dollars on a chaise lounge rehashing our hurts?

Ancient medicine and modern science are showing us that healing can happen in an instant or at least, in a very short period of time. All that is required are a few practical techniques such as Emotional Freedom Technique and an open mind about what is possible.

But I have a sense that, somewhere inside your deep reservoir of inner knowing, you already knew this was possible. (wink)

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EFT: The Tapping Therapy for Resolving Lingering Trauma

Video title: Does a Fear of Judgment Keep You From Expression Your Passion?

(Note – the video above was originally intended for the amazing women inside the BraveHeart Women community)

Have you ever felt like there’s more about you than what you reveal?

I have felt this way many times. What started out as a desire to connect with like minded women and share information about living a healthy and green life through this blog became a huge realization about my self and how much I do not share.

About a year ago – I began to feel that this niche that I had chosen for HGM was only part of what I wanted to say. Each time I wanted to write about other topics I was passionate about, I held back and over time this blog began to feel and look neglected.

I began to feel a tremendous desire to step into my LIGHT and reach my wildest dreams!

This tremendous longing to know who I am at a deep level originally began as a feeling that I was not good enough. Coinciding with postpartum depression, I had many heard days last winter.

However, postpartum depression and this longing to DO and BE more soon became the greatest gift of my life.

One day last January (2010) I came sobbing out of the bedroom and announced to my husband that I was tired of my impossible expectations of myself and that I did not want to suffocate the life out of myself any longer. I was done with perfection and procrastination.

About a week later I had moment that I’ll call “extreme insight” when I looked outside while a voice deep inside said to me “WE are VASTLY underestimating our ROLE in the Universe”

Following those two realizations, I have been on an intense personal & spiritual journey that has led me from energy healing with “The Reconnection” to receiving incredible personal coaching to attending empowering all-woman retreats and doing deep shamanic work to release generations of trauma from my DNA.

What used to be a focus on SELF HELP has transformed into to SELF DISCOVERY and I have realized WHO the voice is, that I’ve been hiding all my life.

So what does this mean for HealthyGreenMoms? It means that I will probably begin sharing content here that does not necessarily reflect healthy or green in the literal sense. Although I know now, more than ever, that I desire to help heal and preserve the planet, my focus will be on  inspiring women like myself – who have a tremendous desire to step into their light by following their passion to help transform our world one woman at a time.

The video above is my very first ever online video.

You can find me at BraveHeart Women by checking out my profile. I have also started a community for women with passion called “Kiss the Bliss“ I’d love to connect with you there. Joining Braveheart Women and attending the BraveHeart Women RISE 2010 event in LA last year was a huge moment for me where everything began to flow and make sense for me again. All my life I have wanted to meet and connect with women who choose to collaborate rather than compete. If you wish to be inspired or BE an inspiration, please join me there.

I also invite you to connect with me by “liking” my new Kiss the Bliss FB page. This is where I am hanging out until my new website is ready.

Blessings!

Monica

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A New Beginning for HGM

How is your New Years going so far? Did you make any resolutions for 2009? I have to admit, I’ve never really “believed” in New Years Resolutions but in the last couple of years I have become really excited about making New Year’s Resolutions. So what happened, why am I such a believer in resolutions now?

My previous pessimism about new years resolutions was pretty simple: Why bother? Most resolutions are rarely kept, right? Everywhere I turn, I see good intentions and ideas become shelved as the demands of life take over for yet another year. Ouch! Not very optimistic is it? I don’t have to look far though, because there are 5 reasons why my own goals were always doomed from the beginning:

1. My goals were too BIG! I’ve never had a problem with thinking big but sometimes the goal can be too big, perhaps even idealistic? When a goal is too big it is difficult to achieve it in a realistic period of time. Big goals need to be broken down into smaller goals that can be continuously achieved within the weeks and months. A continuous realization of small goals is the direct way to the achievement of your big goals. I love ideals, possibilities and shooting for the stars, BUT the path getting there has to be laid out in sometimes much less glorifying steps.
2. My goals should have been called “ideas” instead because they were never written down! Statistically, those that write down their goals are the most successful at achieving them. There is no way of getting around this. If you are serious about a goal, write it down or I personally recommend going one step further by creating a dream board. Cut out the pictures that represent your dream and place them in a spot where you will see them everyday! I tell you, since I have started this, nearly every one of my goals have come true.
3. My goals lacked specific details because they were never written down.  If the details were never there, how could I embody the realization of the goal? You have to be able to smell and taste your goal in specific details!
4. I failed to ACT. Volumes can be written about the importance of ACTION, and every procrastinating perfectionist knows that action is the killer or the savior of goals! The secret I have finally learned is that every time I act on an idea or goal, doors are opened that would otherwise remain closed. The world moves for those who are moving!
5. I cared too much about others opinions.  I needed the support of others rather than standing alone and confident with my own goals. Support is valuable but you may not get it in your immediate circle so be resourceful and seek out the support you need to stay on track. This week Tim Ferriss, author of The 4 Hour Work Week had a good blog post this week about “The Things I’ve Learned and Loved in 2008“. I appreciated many of his lessons including one regarding handling people’s opinions:

“It doesn’t matter how many people don’t get it. What matters is how many people do. If you have a strong informed opinion, don’t keep it to yourself. Try and help people and make the world a better place. If you strive to do anything remotely interesting, just expect a small percentage of the population to always find a way to take it personally. F*ck ‘em. There are no statues erected to critics.” T.Ferriss

I think I’ve learned a great deal from my past resolution foibles. I now look forward to setting goals and achieving goals as a regular part of my life. Because we set multiple goals for the year, we don’t make a big point of setting them exactly on the 1st of January. Rather, my husband and I spend a few of our evenings in the beginning of January discussing our years past and what we hope for the following year.

Next, we begin to create uncensored goals lists. We don’t edit ourselves at all. The editing and fine tuning can come later as we determine what is achievable this year, which goals are carried over from last year, and those that have a 2-5 year plan. We create these uncensored lists as a couple and individually.

One of my personal goals this year is to spend more time studying healing by doing in some additional sessions in past life regression. I have already had two sessions and I was simply floored at the wisdom that is accessed at the core Soul level. PLR has put to rest some deep pain that I was carrying with me. For me, it’s not important if the “past life” happened or not. It’s more about communicating with my Self without the usual smoke and mirrors created by personality. (O.k. so now you know a little more about yours truly)

I believe we can’t really move forward unless we understand a little more about “how and why” we make decisions, for better or worse! For example, the realization that I was making goals that were too lofty and “unachievable” because I was a perfectionist who was too afraid of trying and then “failing”. I don’t used these terms and guidelines any longer to measure myself and as a result, I have allowed action without fear to finally be a bigger part of my life.

The next few articles will continue to focus on more ways to nurture your dreams and goals, but in the meantime have a look these articles:

Simple Mom has generated a great list of 20 Questions for a New Years Eve Reflection that can be asked anytime. This is a great way of understanding the “how and why” of our decisions! She then follows with 20 Questions for Planning New Year’s Goals. I have found questions like these really valuable in getting past the “brain block” that can occur with a goal setting sessions.

The Change Blog has a valuable article “The Art of Anticipating Obstacles”. Any seasoned goal setter knows that obstacles do not represent “failure”. Expecting obstacles puts an individual in a solution oriented mindset rather than a problem centered mindset.

The article “Is Your Thinkin Stinkin?” by yours truly, offers some suggestions from personal development master Jim Rohn on getting in the right mindset to achieve your goals and dreams.

How do you feel about resolutions? Can you relate to any of the reasons why I’ve crashed and burned in the past? How do you help yourself achieve your New Year’s Resolutions?

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Don’t Make The Same New Year’s Resolution Mistakes I’ve Made!

Take a look at the supplements aisle in any drugstore and you’ll find a myriad of products designed to increase your energy levels. It’s easy to opt for cup after cup of java only to crash hours later; overworked, overstressed and left with little to give. Finding your optimal energy while caring for young children can also seem elusive after many late nights tending to colds, teething, feeding and restless toddlers.

Finding time to relax, much less learning how to increase energy levels may sound unrealistic for busy moms however some of the best energy boosts are little enjoyable activities that help to ease stress and refresh your spirit.

To be sure, there is no single best way to achieve your optimal energy zone, although optimal energy resides somewhere in between giving attention to the spiritual, mental, emotional, physical and relational aspects of ourselves in a non aggressive, obsessive, or overly indulgent way.

Aside from the benefits of regular exercise, here are some ideas on how you can increase your energy levels by choosing simple and out of the ordinary ways to approach your health.

1. Read an inspiring book
2. Turn off the TV
3. Blast your favorite music
4. Take stock of what’s right with your life
5. Help someone in need
6. Meditate, even 5 minutes per day to breathe deeply and Be is great!
7. Start each day with warm water and a squeeze of lemon
8. Snack on raw fruit and vegetables
9. Take a walk around the block
10. Have a pillow fight with your children
11. Go for a drive with the windows down
12. Do some gardening
13. Roll in the leaves
14. Fire up the blender and make a fruit smoothie
15. Meet a funny friend for lunch
16. Get with nature. Where is your special place to be?
17. Break the monotony and mix up your daily routine
18. Lighten the load and purge your stuff
19. Cut the sugar from your diet
20. Don’t sleep in, set your alarm instead
21. Ditch the coffee for green tea
22. Take a warm bath with citrus essential oils
23. Create a dream board
24. Learn how to breathe deeply each day
25. Eat like a baby, little but often
26. Don’t eat within 3 hours of bedtime
27. Sigh up for that class you’ve always wanted to take
28. Drink more water and less booze
29. Get in the game! Create a list of realistic personal goals
30. Have a fresh juiced carrot, apple, celery, ginger drink. Wowzers!
31. Make a list of fears, and then overcome them one by one
32. Test drive your dream car (and then put it on your dream board!)
33. Say NO more often! It’s OK to lighten your load. Really!
34. Take up Hatha Yoga
35. Pay someone a sincere compliment
36. Spend time with people who love you dearly
37. Exercise your funny bone and laugh at yourself

This list is only the beginning. What do you do to boost your energy, reduce your stress and feel great?

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37 Ways To Increase Your Energy (Without Breaking A Sweat)

Are your predominant thoughts focused on the love and gratitude you have for your inner gifts, or are you more focused on your perceived limitations? Either way, your predominant thoughts will decide the course of your life.

Last week I wrote about Stinkin Thinkin and how your personal philosophy determines the outcome of your life regardless of how aware you are of your deep seated beliefs. Unfortunately, it’s all too common to give your limiting beliefs too much weight. When you are immersed in the power and intensity of fear or self doubt, it is easy to feel isolated. Often we forget that despite appearances of confidence, self doubt can often be just as powerful in the woman beside us.

In addition to any limiting beliefs you have about yourself, many of us also field an onslaught of negative self talk on a daily basis. When self doubt and fear seems to be such a powerful force in your life, how do you begin to overcome the negative self talk and move ahead with more confidence?

3 Simple Ways To Overcome Negative Self Talk

1. Awareness

Awareness is the realization that the negative self talk exists. Awareness is like a muscle. At first you may not be aware of our underlying thoughts. Awareness may begin as a hindsight realization that you habitually reacted in a certain way. Over time, by continually watching your reactions and thoughts, you begin to see yourself habitually thinking, talking and acting in a certain way as they happen. The key with growing awareness is that you do not react to what you are witnessing in yourself. Be an observer but not a participant in the drama.

For example, when I started this blog, I would get really excited about something I wanted to share and the immediate negative self talk would be “what you have to say is not important” and “no one cares what you have to say”. Because I am aware that this pattern of outdated self talk exists, I can hear those thoughts arising and then I can allow them to pass (more often) without taking the bait and buying into the message. If I were to buy into the message and feel badly about my abilities, I would be reacting. Stated another way, the passing thought of self doubt may exist in the moment, however it does not inhibit you from moving towards your goals.

“Fear is only as deep as the mind allows” Japanese Proverb

2. Acceptance

In order for you to move past limiting self talk you have to accept that it is happening and influencing your life. The negative self talk will lose it’s grip the moment you decide to love and accept this unresolved aspect of yourself. When you are constantly reacting and judging yourself for your perceived weaknesses it creates a strangle hold over your life that leaves little room for growth.

You are a work in progress and the challenges that you face as you learn to love and accept all aspects yourself will add to the texture and richness of your life so that you can then love and accept these aspects in others. Love and acceptance of yourself regardless of the situation creates the space for you to grow and overcome.

“The person who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones” Anonymous

3. Action

Negative self talk can become so habitual and so powerful that it literally keeps you from pursuing many of your dreams. We are our own worst enemies! There are times however, that the light of inspiration will erode the negative talk for a short time and it is so important to ACT on this inspiration. A baby step at first perhaps, or diving in with both feet.  Over time, taking action during times of inspired thinking will slowly erode the power of the negative talk.  This is because with each action you take, you develop more and more confidence.

The key is to ACT in spite of the limiting beliefs you face in your life. First become aware, then accept, and most importantly act anyway.

I hope these 3 suggestions will help you to become more aware of negative self talk and give you the tools to move forward towards your goals and dreams anyway. We all have negative self talk, but it does not have to dictate the course of our lives.

Are you aware of how your self talk influences the decisions you make? What are your ways of dealing with negative self talk? Let’s talk more in the comments below.

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3 Ways To Ditch Negative Self Talk

How do you approach life? Do you see possibilities and opportunities at every corner? Are you a YES person who finds the “how to” later? Do you encourage others when they come to you with their crazy ideas? Do circumstances rule your life or do you find a way, regardless?

When you are gearing up for change in your life, it is so important to continually put yourself in front of inspiration. However, there is also a dominant ruling force in most of our lives that many times renders inspiration to be fleeting at best. This ruling force is your thoughts.

Your thoughts are the daily force that cause the creative power to act within your life, for better or for worse. Repetitive thoughts do become things, so if you want to move forward in your life, looking at your perspective can be very helpful to see if your thoughts are in alignment with the vision that you have for your life.

I wrote recently about overcoming some personal obstacles to find peace in my life. Looking back on the person I am today compared to who I was a few years ago I would say one of the most obvious differences is in the way that I think. I used to be as pessimistic and skeptical as they come. I even rationalized my perspective as a good character quality because at least “someone should be realistic.”

What I did not realize is that my doubt and skepticism was affecting every area of my life because I easily saw the problems in every opportunity that came to me. Because I saw problems instead of solutions, I usually was able to convince myself that each opportunity was not the “right” opportunity. This doubting, raised eyebrow view of life permeated into every area of my life until I finally woke up to the fact that I had a big old case of stinkin’ thinkin’ and it was time to overhaul my personal philosophy!

“You can have more than you’ve got because you can become more than you are” Jim Rohn

One of the people that has influenced me a great deal is an extraordinary human being named Jim Rohn. If you don’t know him already, I highly recommend his free weekly newsletter! His timeless philosophy gently shattered my self important opinions about the world in such a unique way that left me unable to defend and forced me to change.

In his book “The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle” he outlines the five principles for attaining whatever you want to have and becoming whatever you wish to be. These are the fundamentals of success that are unchanging throughout the history of human achievement: Philosophy, Attitude, Activity, Results and Lifestyle. The book is $12 and worth every single penny.

Jim Rohn describes our personal philosophy this way: “In the process of living, the winds of circumstance blow on us all in an unending flow that touches each of our lives. What guides us to different destinations in life is determined by the set of our sail. The way each of us thinks makes the major difference in where each of us arrives.”

He goes on to say that your life is a direct product of the way you choose to think. The way you think then directs your behavior and habits. Your philosophy is formed through your experience of events and the multitude of sources in your lives. In a way, your philosophy is not really your philosophy, it has been given to you, by your friends, family, environment, history, teachers, media etc.

The question you must ask is: Has your current philosophy given you the life that you desire? If not, then it is time to choose your own philosophy.

Many falsely believe that finances, upbringing & past, lack of time, circumstances, family etc hold us back from achieving the life of our dreams.

In order to get to the root of your philosophy about success, ask yourself questions like:

• What is my relationship with money?
• How do I regard successful people?
• Do I feel that I deserve a good life?
• What am I afraid to lose if I go for my dreams?
• What am I willing to risk to accomplish my dreams?

I soon realized that I had accepted the philosophy that: successful people were untrustworthy, that money was the root of evil and that if I was a successful woman I would have to give up any semblance of a family life. I believed that much of success required luck or that I had to know someone important to have a chance at big opportunities. As I write these limitations in my thinking I realize today how silly these sound. But the clincher is that I didn’t know that I thought this way until I dug deeper! It was all below the surface. If you asked then about this, I would have disagreed with all those statements!

Until we ask these questions and take the time to think them out our habitual thinking and conditioning will be the dominant predictor in the outcome of our life.

Our personal philosophy, known or unknown, will decide the course of our lives. Once I accepted that I had some pretty substantial and limited beliefs, it was a truly liberating experience to replace them with a new philosophy.

Here is a look at how to build a new & powerful personal Philosophy – one of the five fundamentals listed in the book.

Building a powerful personal philosophy.

1.  Don’t erase…replace! Begin to seek out the new information that your success and happiness requires. To change our thinking habits we need to input new information. Begin to learn from the people you admire and you will be introduced to a new language and way of thinking. You will soon have the resources to make different conclusions based upon a more successful perspective.

“The decisions we are making are not wrong based on the information we have, it is the information we have that is causing us to make wrong decisions” Jim Rohn

2. Learn from your past experiences. Make a review of your actions and the lessons learned. Make sure you have a truthful account of the event so that you don’t continue to escape from reality. You can learn from both failure and success and adjust your course for the future.

“Failure must teach us, or surely success will not reward us” Jim Rohn

3. Learn from an outside voice. Get an objective appraisal of your growth from someone you respect who will be able to examine our actions and determine if you have stayed on course with the fundamentals of success. The objective is to be able to see things you otherwise would not be able to see.

“We are wise, indeed, if we discipline ourselves to take council from someone who cares, lest life and circumstances force us to take it from someone who does not care” Jim Rohn

4. Learn from other people’s experience with failure. You also want to study failure so you can learn what not to do. I found this funny when I first read it, but then I wondered, when have I ever made a study of failure? Do you know what to avoid based on the evidence or do you simply follow along? The majority is not right the majority of the time!

“If we had more opportunity to learn from the negative experiences of others, we might well save our own lives from certain disaster” Jim Rohn

5.  Learn from other people’s success. Spend time gathering the knowledge and ideas that success requires. The habits, the disciplines, the language, the thinking. A great place to start is by reading a daily quote from the great minds of past and present. Choose a few mentors to learn from. Jim Rohn is a great place to start!

6.  The power of positive influence. We are all within the sphere of influence. Who you are today is a collage of the many people that have influenced you over the years. Choose to avoid at all costs the power of the wrong influence weaving it’s effect on you. Look for people you can admire and respect, even if they are not in your direct circle of influence.

“In this lifetime there is no greater project than the deliberate development of our own lives” Jim Rohn

I hope you enjoyed some of these ideas. There are still more suggestions to overhaul your philosophy in the book and then 4 more principles for becoming the best you can be in order to attract the best life that has to offer. Free yourself from “stinkin thinkin” and reward yourself with a treasure for your mind with this book. You will love his simple timeless philosophy!

WIN IT: I’m giving away a copy of “The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle” to a random winner. All you have to do to be entered is leave me a comment and tell me about one limiting belief that you have that holds you back from living your best life AND THEN, most important, tell me one way you can overcome it. Contest open to Canadian and USA residents. Winner announced here on August 1st and contacted by email. View official rules here

WINNER: Congratulations to Lori (comment#19) you have won this giveaway and I am so excited to send this book to you since it seems you are quite a reader! I’ve contacted you by email.

Hey, come visit the me and leave a comment! I'd love to hear from you. If you enjoyed this article, thank you for giving it a boost on social media. © All rights reserved. This post is from HealthyGreenMoms and cannot be republished without express written permission.

Is Your Thinkin Stinkin?

I reached a crossroads this week with how much of my personal story I wanted to share on this blog. I decided that it is important to share this post, in the hopes that it would inspire or bring hope to even one person. Thanks to Jonathan at Illuminated Mind for the courageous story he posted this week. He inspired me a great deal.

I grabbed the Globe and Mail this week and they are doing a series on mental illness. The statistics are that 1 in 5 will be affected with some form of mental illness in their lifetime. It’s staggering that on average, every single household willl require treatment at some point in their lives, and yet discussing mental illness is still so taboo?

It is obvious that the state of health in our society, mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health, is in crisis. We all have the potential for a peaceful and happy life and yet, I draw the conclusion that true health is indeed hard for most to attain. Optimum health takes discipline and even though mental wellness may seem a challenge, I know that most do not have to live with depression and anxiety, much less, be on pharmaceutical drugs for the rest of their lives, 

Have We Totally Lost Sight Of Our Own Healing Ability?

I recently watched this short video that outlines the issues that they feel need to be addressed by every person or the families of persons seeking mental health care in this country. If we are to tackle this major problem of mental illness in our country, this video suggests that there are a a few obstacles that are affecting our ability to overcome these illnesses.

The main points of the video, as presented by a successful former drug rep:

1. The pharmaceutical industry is NOT in the business of health and healing, but rather disease and symptom management. If we have a true desire to be healthy, then prescription drugs are not the way to health.  Prescription drugs do not cure disease. Otherwise big pharma would be out of business.
2. There are more effective ways to deal with disorders and syndromes than with pharmaceutical drugs. Symptoms only become a “disease” once they can be tested and documented, ie MRI, cat scan, blood & urine tests. Everything else is categorized as disorders and syndromes. This is huge to understand the way drugs are used and endorsed recklessly. Restless leg syndrome?? There’s a pill for that and it’s good business.
3. Anti-depressants are only truly effective for people with severe depression, however the majority of persons on anti-depressants (44 million) have mild to moderate depression. Anti-depressants tested against placebo’s (sugar pills) are barely more advantageous and in many cases the placebo was more effective than the antidepressant in clinical trials.
4. Exercise has been proven to be more effective against depression than both a placebo and an anti-depressant.
   
5. Anti-depressants are almost impossible to get off of and the reported side effects have been minimized, but do pose real risks to our health.

So you may wonder, why do I care what the pharmaceutical industry does?

One of the things I have discovered, is that I am passionate about inspiring people to reconnect with their ability to completely transform their lives. To have courage in the face of illness and to never give up reaching for the answers that we need to heal.

Everyone can be independently healthy. Independently healthy means sometimes means having the courage to challenge the current methods we are offered and truly assess if they will, over the long term provide the solution we are seeking. It means taking responsibility for finding the root cause, not only managing symptoms.

My History With Depression & Anxiety:

The Family Predisposition

Depression, anxiety and mental illness exists on both sides of my family. My birth mother has multiple forms of mental illness that left her unable to be a mother and so she left when I was 3 years old. I have not had a relationship with her since, aside from one occasion where I witnessed the aftermath of another suicide attempt. On my fathers side we call it the “Celtic gloom”. Call it by any name, it is still depression and anxiety as I see it. I personally remember feeling depressed for the first time when I was about 7 years old. Growing up over the years,  I constantly felt the weight of a burden that I could not describe, nor could I release. It felt as though I had inherited a black cloud over me that was not mine to own and seemed utterly impossible to shake. I thought of suicide often as a teenager.

Making Matters Worse

I left home at 16. My need for independence consumed me and made it impossible for our family to coexist under the same roof. I worked full time, finished high school and then moved to the big city when I was 19 years old.

I was introduced to all night parties and the world of drugs almost immediately. I remember saying to my friends on our first night getting high, that it was the first time in my life I had felt “this happy”. In hindsight, if there were to be a silver lining to my drug use it is that I became aware that there were emotional states that I had not yet experienced. The search for happiness through drugs later became a search for happiness in myself, without the drugs.

Over time my physical health began to decline, I began taking antibiotics regularly for infections which spiraled into creating other health issues. I ate little, worked and partied full time. Not a very healthy life. All the while, I continued to search for happiness outside myself and ignore the black cloud of depression that followed me everywhere.

The Night That Changed Everything

I had always heard about the stories of people having a bad experience, or getting a bad batch of drugs, but at the time I can say I honestly didn’t care, or at least I didn’t think it would happen to me.

We stayed home and got high again. Just another night. Soon after, one of the girls began to act strangely and her actions frightened me instantly. Within minutes, my mind began to loose it’s grip with reality (what little reality there could be in an intoxicated state) Within minutes, my euphoria turned into a nightmare.

That evening I went to the hospital to be treated for panic and a rapid heart rate.  By the time I had reached the hospital, my mind had spiraled to the point of hearing voices in the walls and the thoughts of others, or so I thought. My entire life became a conspiracy that was so convincing that I was not able to keep even a shred of reality in tact.

I was admitted and given an injection to reduce my heart rate that was dangerously high. I was then left in a room alone to allow the injection to take hold and the drugs to slowly wear off. I remember attempting to rip a necklace off a nurse and I threw water in the face of another. What a nice house guest they had that night!

I was able to convince the staff at the hospital that I had come down and I was finally allowed to leave at about 4 am. I probably required a few injections in hindsight, because I was still completely delusional and intoxicated. I managed to find a friends place to hide out where my state of delusion and panic lasted for 3 more days, and when I finally came down I was faced with the reality that my entire life had completely shattered in one night. The fine line between sanity and insanity no longer existed, my mind had fractured.

In the weeks that followed, I was constantly in a paranoid state. I heard voices, saw “secret” messages everywhere and manipulated every word spoken to me to validate my belief of conspiracy and control. Soon after, I gave into the voices and attempted suicide. I was finally admitted in to a group home for a recovery program and officially diagnosed with “drug induced psychosis”.

The Next 10 Years

This period of psychosis actually lasted  for another 3 years. During this time, my “episodes” that would last days at a time, and then I would come back to reality, crash and need to sleep and hide away for days. Although I had drastically reduced my drug use, I was still associating with the same crowd and the environment constantly triggered my episodes. I could no longer listen to loud music or even socialize without triggering an episode. I attempted to live a “normal” life and even became a scuba diver! It was the grace of god that kept me alive under the water during full blown and delusional panic attacks.

Over time the episodes of psychosis decreased and they were replaced with an anxiety/panic attack disorder and of course, the depression that I was already predisposed to returned ten fold. Looking back, that one night of drugs combined with a predisposition to depression, took about 10 years to recover from.

I have always questioned everything. Aside from a 6 month period, I did not take any anti-depressants or anti-psychotics throughout the entire time. I don’t really have a reason except to say that I didn’t like the idea of being under the control of a substance endorsed by the companies I viewed as legalized drug pushers. That’s just the way I looked at it. I guess I was an activist at heart and questioned the motives of the “establishment”.

My decision not to take prescribed drugs forced me to find new ways to heal myself. (Not to imply that drugs heal because I have never met a person who has recovered due to taking anti-depressants, although they may make coping easier for a short duration) I worked towards understanding the many faces of depression and anxiety and over time I learned to bring awareness into my life so that I could observe these states without getting too attached to them. I made an amazing discovery with nutrition, and learned that even slight changes in certain nutrients can have a powerful effect on depression and anxiety. I read every self help book I could get my hands on, practiced yoga and meditation and even took up a yoga teacher training program. I met my husband 6 years after the night everything changed, and his patience, unconditional love and unique perspective and has showed me a new way to see the world and myself.

I now consider depression to be mostly a matter of the soul in our culture. I have always thought of myself as a seeker of Truth and so I had a hard time coming to terms with the destruction I had caused myself and others. Who was this person that made these decisions? Gradually I learned to accept and forgive my past and that I had the power to create a new future. I recognized that that I had a tendency to blame and manipulate in order to validate my poor self image.  I slowly learned to take responsibility and for my thoughts, words and actions. I accepted that I needed to reverse my tendency to be a victim and to find new ways to empower myself. I learned to forgive myself and others, to accept, to imagine, to love myself and others and to believe in the “impossible”. Observing resistance in my life has provided much clarity. Also, returning to the present moment as often as possible has been life altering.

I then found my way to the success & personal development field. This is when I discovered the importance of shifting from introspection about my life’s story towards taking continuous small steps of action. I have found that action through awareness and intention has had the most inspiring results. I realized that I was not separate from everybody, but rather apart of a world community and the importance of giving back and of finding my gifts in order to help or to serve others. I discovered that I had created and inherited a “faulty” road map, and that I needed to create a new set of beliefs for myself. I learned that personal success and happiness are not as mysterious as I had believed, and that there were certain principles that we can all learn and apply to create the life we desire. This was a new language of possibility and hope for me. I finally left behind a belief system of personal lack and limits to one of infinite possibilities and being an intentional participant in my own life.

Considering my predisposition to depression and anxiety, my personal history with drugs, family baggage and a total mental collapse that took years to overcome, wouldn’t it seem that I would be the least likely to overcome mental illness?

So many times I wanted to give up, retreat from life and accept that my illness was due to a chemical imbalance. A glimmer of hope helped me to realize that accepting depression as a chemical issue left me powerless to overcome  my illness, let alone take control and believe and hope for something more. I did not know yet that we can alter our chemicals through right thought and beliefs. I doubted many times that I would be able to experience any kind of happiness in my life. Few people know the extent of the damage I did to my body and mind and the daily terror I lived with for years.

Looking Ahead – Freedom From Depression & Anxiety!

I would have never imagined 10 years ago that I would be writing about this experience from the other side. I love life, I am excited and look forward to the discovering the blessings that each day brings. I am happily married, a mom and so grateful to see life and people in a whole new way. I am thankful to have been exposed to all the amazing teachers that mentored me along the way.

I wanted to tell you my story because I hope it will help you or someone you know:

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that each of us possess the power to our own healing. Life is a journey and healing is multi-disciplined but there is light and a road map for all who choose to believe in their own happiness. I know what is possible because of the darkness I left behind. Have faith and courage to get the answers and believe in yourself. Every person who wants to have clarity and happiness in their life can have it. It’s a bumpy road recovering from depression and anxiety, but don’t ever give up.

Accept and love yourself. Love yourself, because you are a gift and the world is waiting for you to share yourself! Bring love, faith, hope, gratitude, courage, action and perseverance into your life and watch it be transformed.

Read More: Learn more about the specific ways I lifted my own symptoms:

Natural Cures For Depression – The Body

More Natural Cures For Depression – The Mind

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Finding Happiness In The Age Of Depression