TODAY IS THE DAY

Today was the day that Bonnie and I offered our BraveWoman seminar #3 on The Freedom of Gratitude. We have spent this entire month on gratitude - giving talks, doing Bonnie's Gratitude Project (30 days of sitting in gratitude meditation for 10 min a day), and creating and re-creating our seminar.

We always start with an idea for our seminars, and then write them, and then live them, and then rewrite them, until they are organic and are in response to our own growth and in response to what we get from you all, through emails and from your energy in the Field.

There is so much research demonstrating the health benefits (both physical and emotional) of living in gratitude and that is a big part of our lives and what we teach.

We are both so grateful to you and to how you constantly change our lives by being in relationship with us.

We are so happy you are this journey with us and we love and appreciate you interaction with us through our seminars and through these blogs and through the Gratitude Yahoo Group that is growing worldwide.

This is a Movement - greater than we ever anticipated, thank you so much for being a major part of this global expansion.

Love and blessings, Katie

PS - join us on the Gratitude Yahoo Group by going to:

The link to check it out:  http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/freedomofgratitude/

The email to subscribe is:  freedomofgratitude-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

And if you want - the mp3 of BraveWoman--The Freedom of Gratitude is available by emailing Bonnie at bonnie@inner-resources.net

I Told You I Was Sick :))

I have a diagnosis - I mean that is useful. I spend a lot of time knowing I can heal myself - and sometimes that gets in my way. Because I also have a belief (left over from childhood), that I should be able to do everything myself  and so I often forget to ask for help.

Turns out I am experiencing celiac disease - and there are healthy things I can do about it - like giving up wheat - or what engineered stuff that passes for wheat nowadays. Just two weeks into getting off wheat and products with wheat - I am a new person. The GI tract issues are significantly better and the exhaustion is dissipating.

So going to the doctor, working with a healer and my inner-healer - very cool outcome.

Hugs and blessings, Katie

The Freedom of Gratitude--the 30 day experiment

Gratitude is a powerful tool for change and it is available to you in every moment of your life.

Last night I spoke to about 40 women at a networking group. My topic was the Attitude of Gratitude. Katie & I are teaching a teleseminar this month on the Freedom of Gratitude. It seems that the topic of Gratitude is in the air this month—and much needed at this time too.

Yesterday morning while preparing for my talk, I was guided to spend minutes sitting in gratitude. No asking for anything, no writing in a journal, no ‘doing’. Just 10 minutes of being grateful for what I already have. What an experience!

Now 90% of my life is amazing and running smoothly. That leaves 10% just not where I want to be. What I didn't realize until I sat in gratitude for 10 minutes that the past several months I was so focused on the 10% that wasn't working that I forgot about being thankful for the 90% that IS wonderful! Worry & fear wil do that to you--make you forget everything but the loss, the disappointment, the lack!

Within just a few minutes I felt such incredible warmth spread through my body & my heart opening in ways it never did before. As I became aware of my old negative thinking, it began shifting and changing—remember no ‘doing’ just ‘being’.

Suddenly I was shown every situation, time, event in my life where I had ALWAYS gotten what I needed and asked for. I mean EVERY time. I also realized that the limitations and trials that came with each opportunity were of my own making.

Even when I was receiving everything that I asked for—my negativity was limiting my experience. Everything showed up according to what I expected and what I allowed.

Wow! Talk about a total shift in consciousness and emotional healing! I view my past completely differently now. My whole life has opened up in new ways---just using the power of gratitude.

SO—I have committed to spending 10 minutes in gratitude for the next 30 days. I’m doing this because the past 2 days have opened me to so much more than I imagined existed.

The experiment is simple—10 minutes a day sitting in gratitude. Doing nothing—no journaling, no commanding—just being present to the presence of gratefulness in your life. That’s it. 10 minutes a day for 30 days. Come join me!

Every day I will share with you my experiences from my 10 minutes of gratitude. Ii'm excited to discover what lies on the other side of 30 days!

In gratitude,

Bonnie

I Don't Feel Well

How many times this year have you heard yourself say those words? I know I have and I have multiple ways of feeling good - and multiple ways of not feeling bad anymore. My teaching partner Bonnie is a medical intuitive and helped me get over fibromyalgia. I am trained in biofeedback and self-healing techniques from around the world, having studied in the continental U.S. and in Hawaii, and in China, Japan and Malaysia.

And still - I go through periods of time where I just don't feel well. What I also know is that our emotional pain, our negative self-talk and our old frozen beliefs hide out in the soma. Our cells are filled with messages of pain and fear and discomfort. And so paying attention to clearing what is there can make a great difference.

If you are like me, you probably  have done a lot of 'work' on yourself and made some great changes and have expanded your life multiple times. And then wham - you hit another wall. What if you changed your thinking when you hit that wall and embraced that wall as a message that it is time to take a turn on your path and find the Way that is now open to you.

Just a thought - I know when I remember to do that, I feel a whole lot better!

Blessings, Katie

A new response to stress

OK. It’s been one of those weeks where everything seems to be changing fast—and in a good way. And I had an experience today—a transformational shift actually—that I want to share with you. I want to share it with you because now I know that it is possible and I know how to guide others to the opportunity to experience that same shift for themselves.



An old behavior pattern that I learned in childhood was to react to any emergency or anything new that needed to be done quickly with the old fight/flight response. You know that feeling—something happens, you get a call, you need to stop what you are doing and immediately react. When you have the strategy of using fight/flight, which is the ole’ shot of adrenaline that prepares you for reacting, then that’s what happens—adrenaline and cortisol start flowing through your blood stream preparing you to do what needs to be done.

Well that was the way I have always reacted to anything sudden—being an adrenaline junkie. And then my body would contract, I’d feel anxiety in the pit of my stomach and I’d be ready to react. Which also would trigger my desire to overeat as a way of turning off the adrenaline and slowly myself down. I’d fall into having to be up and ready and then use food to reduce the anxiety and come back to neutral. And I did this mostly unconsciously—until today that is.

My 89 year old mother-in-law is in the hospital and we were expecting her to be released today. So I called and found out that not only was she not being released, but no one had been in to see her all day. And off I went into that old adrenaline reaction. Not an angry reaction, but a ‘ready, set, fire’ reaction. As I was driving to the hospital I did a quick inventory of how my body was feeling using those 4 keys to self-healing I talked about on the Wednesday conference call yesterday—Awareness, Forgiveness, Allowing and Receiving.


I felt my muscles tight and contracted and that anxiety in the pit of my stomach just waiting to react to something, and I thought “This isn’t how I want to feel anymore!” So I took a deep breath and felt my entire being shift out of that adrenaline & cortisol fight/flight response and into the excitement & joy of just having an experience. Immediately I felt in my body a shift from adrenaline (fight/flight) driving my behavior and thoughts to neurotransmitters (joy, pleasure, excitement) flooding my body as I actually started looking forward to visiting the hospital and finding out what was happening.

It was a transformational shift from ‘moving away from pain’ to ‘moving towards pleasure’ and THAT is a huge big deal.


And it happened in an instant.

Now that I know what it feels like to approach situations in life from this new perspective—curiosity and adventure—my body can reproduce that response at will now—with just a thought.


It’s a much healthier way of dealing with life and I’m guessing that those last few stubborn pounds around my belly will begin to melt away as my body no longer produces adrenaline as a response to life. And let me tell you—neurotransmitters that flow joy, excitement, curiosity and love—so much better!

I welcome your comments and questions.

My journey to weight loss success

Since July 3rd of last year I have dropped 60 lbs. and 45.5” and gone from XL/1X tops to a size medium and from size 16 pants to a size 4. My original goal was to reclaim my body and my health, not to be a size 4, and not only did I reach that goal, but surpassed it! I feel great! I have more energy, greater vitality and my aches and pains are gone. Now I am exercising on a regular basis which is energizing and motivating me even more. Instead of dreading getting up early to exercise because it’s something I should be doing for my health, I bounce out of bed, grab my new workout clothes and pop in my favorite exercise DVDs. And that energy stays with me throughout the entire day. I am accomplishing goals in other areas of my life that before seemed impossible to take on.


So what finally started me on this weight loss journey? One morning I woke up and realized that I was tired of not feeling good in clothes, being uncomfortable in my own skin and making excuses for why I could never seem to lose the weight. I was tired of the emotional trap of trying to live in the present, but fearing the past, and I was just plain bored with my story of why I couldn’t have what I wanted. Reclaiming my body and my health became my top priority and highest value. After that it was a matter of stepping forward and taking action.


It was time to walk my talk. And what a walk it’s been! Starting with asking myself two questions, I began Commanding to be ready and Commanding to find the resources to be successful. The questions I focused on were: “What makes me feel alive?” and “Who am I when not being run by my past?” Using The One Command every step of the way led me to an eating plan that worked for me and got me past the cravings and old belief patterns around food and body image.


Taking to heart what I teach clients and students, I began tuning into my body several times a day and listening to what it had to say. And it had a lot to tell me about feelings!


All any feeling really wants is to be welcomed with understanding and compassion. It wants the room to unfold, to relax and tell its story—your story. It wants you to trust it enough to pay attention and, in listening, allow it to dissolve into nothingness.


What I experienced on this journey was way beyond just dropping the weight and looking good in clothes again. It was a total transformation of body, mind and spirit. I learned that the desire to eat when not hungry reveals what you really believe about life. Once I understood that, I began questioning the truth of my beliefs and Commanding for what I wanted instead. When I felt like giving up, I Commanded for the determination to continue. When everything was going well, I Commanded for even more of what I wanted. My feet were moving and my eyes were fixed on the goal. Along the way, I even learned to enjoy the journey that we call Life, trusting in myself and my greater intelligence to lead the way.


The results of this journey are evidenced every time I look in a mirror. The reflection I see is more than a thinner body; I see myself as I truly am—body, mind and spirit--and I fall in love all over again.

I witness your good health,


Bonnie

Four Essential Keys for Self-Healing

Here is a link to an article I wrote for Nightingale-Conant about the 4 essential keys you need
to know for self-healing.  Please read the article and leave any comments.

http://tinyurl.com/3j6vhw2

Raise your frequency to increase your health

I've been re-reading a great book called Frequency by Penney Peirce.  She talks about the importance of living from your 'home frequency' which I know as my 'soul vibration.' 

When I make my soul vibration the basis of everything in my life--meaning I spend at least 10-15 minutes every morning simply being aware of my vibration and allowing that vibration to flowing through me--I experience my reality as fluid, joyful and grounded in every area of my life.  When I accept and live in harmony with my soul vibration as my normal way of being in the world, my life and everything in it becomes harmonious.  People, situations, resources, events how up in my life in harmony with my needs and desires.

I did not attract them nor draw them to me.  I simply live in, with, as, from and through my soul vibration and allow myself to experience what has always been there, but I had been too blocked to notice. 

Living this way heals my physical being as well as feeds me emotionally and spiritually. My health has improved, weight has dropped off and I am inspired every day to something grander than the day before.

All because I took the time to tap into this home frequency, this soul vibration and allow myself to experience the healthy body that is already mine.  Illness cannot exist in a body that is in harmony with its nature.

This blog exists to provide you with an opportunity to learn more about Health and Healing.  Please feel free to ask questions and leave comments about what topics of health you would like to know more about.

In peace and good health,

Bonnie

Allowing Good Health

Let’s talk about how to stop trying to be healthy and allow yourself to be.

Lao-tzu wrote “When allowing informs our thoughts and actions, we walk in harmony and peace.”


What gets in the way of that allowing and, therefore, causes a stress response in your body?

We live in a noisy world. Have you ever noticed that? Everywhere you go there is noise assaulting your nervous system. At home, driving in traffic, out shopping, the music in the malls, elevators, at work, walking the street. Even on a sunny summer day you hear the sounds of lawn mowers and blowers. Go to a spa to relax and there is music. Have you ever tried to find a quiet place without noise?


Being constantly bombarded with noise is jarring to the nervous system.
A noisy environment, especially one in which you cannot escape, affects your nervous system—keeping your innate fight/flight/freeze stuck in high gear.


Not all noise is jarring to the nervous system however. There are the soothing sounds of nature---gentle rainfall, ocean waves, birds, animals in the forest; even the trees in a forest make sounds. But these are sounds that soothe the system, instead of stressing it.

Now today’s topic is about learning to allow yourself to be healthy—or allow yourself to have whatever it is you desire to have.


There are 2 energies that we discuss today. Allowing and Trying. We are taught from an early age to ‘try’. Try, try again. We become so focused on trying that we forget to allow the time and space for what we want to arrive.

Close your eyes for a moment. Ask yourself:


-What is your definition of trying? What behaviors do you do that result from trying? When you think about trying, what come up for you?


Just notice your answers; maybe jot them down to look at later. 


-What is your definition of allowing? What behaviors do you do that result from allowing? When you think about allowing, how does that feel?

Notice your answers to these questions as well. Did you find an Aha! or maybe an Oh no! or even a Whoa!

A person who always tries must keep doing, keep busy, keep ahead of the game, keep striving to achieve. Like a shark that must keep swimming to stay alive, people who are stuck in the ‘trying game’ must always be busy, and
can never truly relax and allow.

It is a myth that trying will ever get you where you want to be. Trying
creates stress, because there is no end, no brass ring. When you think
about all the things you’ve tried---the new diet, another class, a new job,
a new relationship, new clothes, new whatever…..when you think about
trying—what do you feel?


What is the belief driving your trying?

Let me define trying according to my world. Trying is taking an action over
and over again with no success. Taking action is different. To have what we want we must be willing to take action steps, make a commitment to having it, even persistence—and allowing. These create different energies and responses in our bodies.

Trying is the energy of searching but never finding. I had a student in a class years ago that said she’d been trying to find healing for 13 years and had tried every class, every healing modality that she found, but nothing ever worked. She was hoping that ‘trying’ this class would help.


It was no surprise when she didn’t come back the next day….because the search was more important to her than the finding.

Trying is the realm of the conscious mind. It contributes to stress, unhappiness, even ill health. As long as you focus your efforts on trying, you prevent yourself from having.

So what is the alternative?

Allowing. Allowing is the realm of Source mind, our greater capacity.  Allowing is the energy of having, of achieving, of succeeding.  It is taking the inspired action and being open to receiving.  It is committing to yourself, for yourself, and about yourself to receive what you desire.

Allowing is not passive. It is actually an active state. Take some time to
sit in the energy of allowing something in your life to see that it is an active way of being in the world that allows time to relax, let go, trust, receive,

enjoy, smile, laugh.


Allowing provides tools for self-realization, self-empowerment, greater healing. It is getting out of your own way and letting your greater capacity, your Source mind to bring to you what you’ve asked for. It is a state of trust.


Sometimes you can get so wrapped up in trying to heal or be healthy, that you don’t ALLOW yourself to be healthy and healed.  Allowing is consciously choosing a different way of being in the world.


So you know that you get caught up in trying. What do you do to break out of that?


When you find yourself wrapped up in the struggle of trying—cut yourself some slack. Take a break—close your eyes and breathe, go for a walk, do something you enjoy. Take a 1 minute vacation in your mind—go to your Sacred place in your mind. Allow your focus to shift.

Finding Balance in Healing

When your life is out of balance, your health is out of balance as well. One flows from the other, inseparable like two sides to a coin. When people talk about wanting to be healthier, the meaning within their words is that their life is out of balance and they want to fix that. So let’s talk about finding balance in your life as well as balance in your healing.


If you want good health, you must first bring your thoughts and emotions into alignment with good health—and that is a balancing act. There are days you do really well in maintaining balance and days when you don’t. There is no judgment of one being better than the other. Tony Robbins says “There’s no such thing as failure; there’s only an outcome”


Healing always starts in the mind. Your body is a reflection of your thoughts, feelings and beliefs. It responds to the messages you unconsciously send it. So healing your body means first healing your thoughts.


For example, if I desire to be a certain weight or drop a certain amount of pounds, but then head to the refrigerator every time I feel upset, fearful or out of control, what do you think the outcome will be? What will show up in my reality—and my body—are the results of my overeating, not my desire to lose weight. That’s because my outer reality is a direct expression of my inner thoughts and beliefs. It’s impossible to believe one thing and produce a different result.


The good news is that you can easily change your subconscious beliefs that contribute to stress, overeating, making unhealthy choices and being out of balance. You see, it’s not how you fall that is important. It’s that you get back up again.

How real is Reality?

I'm sure you've heard by now that you create your reality.  People either love that saying or they hate it; rarely is there an in-between feeling about it.  From the viewpoints of quantum science and metaphysics it is true.  You do create your reality because what you experience as your 'reality' is based upon what you unconsciously believe to be true about life.  If you believe that you can achieve any goal you set your mind too--then you do.  That is your reality.  If you, however, have experiences that prove that nothing you ever do will amount to much, then that is the reality that you experience.

It seems complicated, but actually it is really quite simple.  Whatever you believe is true shows up in your life as proof that it is true.  Growing up I learned through experiences that no matter what I achieved in life, someone would always take it away from me, so why even bother.  And that was my reality for many years.  I would achieve something or have something and, sure enough, someone came along and took it away from me.  Why?  Because I expected it.  That belief was so ingrained in my subconscious and my identity that I unconsciously drew in people who took things from me--proving to me that my belief was accurate.

Doesn't make sense to the rational, logical mind, but then your subconscious is neither rational nor logical.  It just holds the beliefs that we formed early in childhood that helped us navigate our life.

Conversely, I have 4 grown children who always achieve their goals.  In fact, it has never occurred to them that maybe they couldn't have what they wanted.  They learned from experiences that when they decided they wanted something, all the people, support and resources would be there to help them succeed.  And now that is their reality.  I watch each of them as they decide on a course in life and then go about having it.  They are each my heroes.

Quantum science tells us that everything that is possible is happening around us all at once.  It is what we have learned to pay attention to, based on our belief systems, that determine what we consider our reality.  Every second we are bombarded by billions of bits of information, but our mind can only pay attention to a finite number and the rest is simply deleted.

Say for instance that you didn't feel very smart.  That was your belief--"I'm not very smart."  Because that you held that belief, you probably made choices based on being 'not very smart'.  Those choices created behaviors that showed you weren't very smart, which only reinforced the belief.  With me so far?

Now if I lined up 100 people and the first 99 stood in front of you and said "Wow.  You're the smartest person I know." you might smile and nod your head, but internally you are deleting their comment--because it doesn't fit with your subconscious belief.  Now that 100th person walks up to you and says "You aren't very smart are you?" and you will likely agree with them!

That is how the mind deletes what doesn't fit with your core beliefs and accepts what does fit.  It's not a matter of good/bad or right/wrong.  It is just how beliefs and the mind work.

The beauty is that a belief is a belief and beliefs can be changed in an instant.

More on that in my next article!

I witness your mastery.


Bonnie