Tag Archives: Personal Growth

Fear of Slowing Down

Let me describe a common scenario…

A woman/mother/man/father (could be you) rises to the sound of an alarm, steps out of bed and into a role that s/he plays well — always working diligently on the projects of the day (work, parenting, meals, cleaning, driving, etc.) — crossing all of the ‘t’s and dotting all of the ‘i’s — rushing around to make sure deadlines are met.

Sometimes meals get skipped; sometimes, fast food has to suffice. Transitions between events/meetings/tasks are tight and sometimes it doesn’t feel like there’s room to breathe, much less observe the subtleties within moments.

Sometimes s/he hears a “thank you” (although it might be rare). S/he’s become so accustomed to this way of life that (most days) there’s no longer even a thought about “self-care”, or doing something for your Self. The evenings require as much routine and squeezing in as the days do, and by the end of the night s/he’s left drained, often indulging in one or more forms of self-medicating — a drink (or two), a few Netflix episodes, the infamous late-night snacking, etc.

It’s not until the weekend that s/he sometimes wonders where the life s/he used to dream about went; s/he sees life flying by without actually living it, and wonders if this is just how it goes. Not quite what s/he imagined for her/his self.


Can you relate to this story?

BAD NEWS: If you’re like most Americans, this is a rough sketch of your daily life.
GOOD NEWS: It doesn’t have to be this way! (keep reading)

When we are living as described above, i.e. modern, over-scheduled lives, we are out of touch with our bodies, our emotions, and our dreams. This translates as living in a constant state of triggering and fear, which means we are going through our lives mostly in Fight/Flight/Freeze (Sympathetic Nervous System) mode, which causes degeneration and disease. When we are in SNS (sympathetic nervous system), blood is diverted away from the organs and into the limbs for quick response. The problem isn’t the SNS, but the fact that we are constantly “on guard” for the next thing that needs doing or email that needs checking.

In order to HEAL, digest, and restore our bodies/minds we need to be in Parasympathetic Nervous System. And as long as we are operating in SNS (i.e. stress response) for the majority of our minutes/hours/days/weeks, then our hormones (and lives) will be out of balance.

Recognizing this is one thing, but making a lifestyle change is quite another.

“Maybe we hear these pleas from our bodies, but we don’t know how to stop running, pushing, overreaching ourselves. We are afraid that if we stop, something terrible will happen.”

~ Dr. Claudia Welch

You might not think you live in “fear”, but I’m here to tell you that if you are choosing a life that is harming your health, inside and out, and limiting your potential, then you ARE. A little tough love here…

As unintentional as it may be, YOU ARE CHOOSING the path of INSANITY! 😱

GOOD NEWS: You CAN Get OUT of this Cycle!!!
BAD NEWS: There is no quick fix — no pill, no diet, no superfood, no surgery, no ONE thing that will “fix it” FOR you. The work is all on you.
MORE GOOD NEWS: This is EXACTLY my specialty and I’d LOVE to help you get UNstuck!

P.S. It’s not going to be EASY, but it’s going to be BEAUTIFUL and so so so FULFILLING!

Schedule a time to talk with me here.

xoxo

Jessica

How to Thrive this Summer with Ayurveda!

Ayurveda is a beautiful and rich system of healing. It not only gives us an incredibly detailed science of the human being’s magnificent multi-layered self, but it also gives us a picture of the entire universe and how we fit into it. As such, being aligned with Nature is critical to our overall health and ability to heal.

Simply put…if we are out of sync (misaligned), we cannot thrive.

In practical terms, being ALIGNED with Nature means paying attention to the world around us and arranging our lifestyle choices around the circadian rhythms of our planet. Our Grandparents and Great Grandparents did this naturally, because several decades back we humans were more connected to the rhythms of the earth in our daily lives. Nowadays, we have the ability to eat any food in any season, to watch anything online at anytime, to completely disregard the internal and external rhythms around us for the sake of desire and convenience.

What is this disregard doing to us? It’s part of the cause of a whole slew of epidemic problems in our modern civilization — like obesity, type 2 diabetes, insomnia, and so so many different autoimmune issues, like fibromyalgia, allergies, eczema, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, thyroid problems like Hashimoto’s, and a ton of different digestive issues like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Crohn’s disease. And in case you weren’t aware, this is a very small list of all of the autoimmune diseases that are plaguing so many in “modern” cultures. What I wish everyone knew is this…

Autoimmune dis-eases and so many other health diagnoses can be cured with the Circadian Medicine of Ayurveda.

Circadian Medicine is living in tune with Nature. It really doesn’t get anymore uncomplicated than that, which is why it might be looked over in our modern day and age.

This simple wisdom can easily be lost in a culture that puts more faith in technology and the initials that come after a name, than intuition, nature and the individual’s power to heal.

So, without further ado, I’ll get straight to how you can start today, by getting in tune with the season we are in…Summer!

Click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel!

I also created a nifty tip sheet with easy ways to stay balanced this summer.
Print it out and post it on your fridge! 💜

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On Being HERE Now…

Recently I made a BIG move in my life — a choice to relocate my family. It was a HUGE undertaking that took a lot of COURAGE on my part (as well as a lot of support from family and friends to make it happen). In the process, I encountered many obstacles — some real, some imagined (LOL!), some planned for and some that completely blind sighted me.

So…I am HERE now.

I'm Here!

Or, I was the other day. (Ha ha ha!) But seriously…after the hub-bub of the initial move was over, I found myself feeling misplaced. My whole life had literally been transported and the life I knew — the friends, the places, the things — were gone, and suddenly replaced by new people, places, and things that were unfamiliar and new.

Where was MY place in this all? It was a surreal experience altogether and for more than a hot minute, I questioned my choice and my ability to confidently follow through with my vision for our new life.

What the HELL? I had put so much energy and effort into making this new phase of my life happen and now that it was HERE, part of me wanted to curl up and hide under the covers for a month.

Not the smoothest transition for me, but probably not the worst either. I knew that I wanted to really SHOW UP and make the most of this experience, but I had gotten into some bad habits during the move that were getting in the way of me showing up as my BEST self. Mainly, I was waaaaay out of rhythm.

Ayurveda (EYE-your-VAY-da), the sister science to Yoga, teaches us that when we are out of rhythm, we suffer, and boy is that the truth! During the weeks leading up to and during the move, I was eating at irregular times, staying up late, eating a later, heavier dinner, and not getting up early enough to really start my day right. These might sound like no big deal, and honestly 2 years ago, I might not have thought so either, but after experiencing the EASE that comes from being IN rhythm, being OUT of rhythm was seriously PAINFUL — physically, mentally, and emotionally.

The price I paid for disregarding my body’s wisdom was REAL!

So what to do? First…I knew I had to get REAL here and get HONEST about what wasn’t working. Then, do the hard work of steering back in the right direction. That’s the hard part, though, right? When you find yourself in a position where you’ve already screwed up, sometimes it’s easier to just let it go than do the work of getting back on track. It’s called the “what-the-hell” effect. Ever heard of it?

“The what-the-hell effect is the feeling you get when you’ve already exceeded your preset limit and feel that since you’ve already failed, you might as well fail spectacularly…

…When you miss a goal or exceed a limit, be gentle on yourself. Don’t catastrophize. Armed with this knowledge and awareness, you’ll be able to make better, more informed choices as you move forward.”

It’s a REAL thing!!! You can read more about it in this short article by Eric Ravenscraft at LifeHacker.com HERE.

I’m sure you’ve had your own “what-the-hell” experiences. Sadly, it’s easy to keep going down that path and find yourself way, way off track. That’s how to devolve into a lesser version of yourself over time — NOT my recommendation.

If you don’t want to go down the path of regression/stagnation, you have to make a real effort to start right HERE where you currently are and pick the lowest hanging fruit that moves you in the direction you want to go.


5 Steps to Steer You Back On Track…

  1. Honestly recognize where you are and that it’s not where you want to be (but DON’T stay stuck there, move on to step 2).
  2. Know what you want to be different. What new habit would you like to have?
  3. Acknowledge the GAP between where you currently are and where you want to be and the fact that your daily habits have gotten you here.
  4. Know that you can CHANGE your habits.
  5. Ask yourself this question and be patient for the answer to arise: What New Thing Do You Need to Believe About Yourself In Order to Adopt Your New Habit?
  6. Write it down EVERYWHERE — put it on your computer desktop, your planner, your bathroom mirror, your refrigerator, your phone wallpaper, and anywhere else that you are guaranteed to look throughout your day.
  7. BELIEVE IT!
  • An example of a new belief might be: “I choose to listen to my body.” or “I have the power to design my life.” or “The way I eat nourishes my body.” If you’re having trouble coming up with a new belief to support your new habit, let me help you! Click the link at the end of this post to set up a time to talk to me!

 

What we believe about ourselves creates our daily habits, and our daily habits define us to the world, and then that’s reflected back to us by the people we interact with. So, literally…

Our thoughts about ourselves make the difference in who we are. They have the potential to either help us EVOLVE into more confident, loving, healthy people inside and out OR to keep us locked into all of the negative patterns that lead to our ruin.

It starts with just being HERE — being present with what IS with honesty and self-compassion.

When you sit with WHAT IS, what comes up for you? What’s not working that needs your honest, loving attention? What do you want to be different?

I want to know! Comment below or schedule a time to talk to me HERE.

As Always…

 

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