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Balance Inside the Bubble: 5 Tips to Transform Your Work-From-Home Experience

Creating whole-person balance for the modern day work-from-homers

Working for yourself from home or even working for a company virtually has many benefits… more freedom, flexibility and of course, working from a more comfortable and casual environment (even in fuzzy slippers!).

But what about the down side? Time management challenges, bleed over from work-life into personal life, isolation and work taking over EVERYTHING!

Here are some simple tips that when applied with consistency will help you THRIVE, not just survive in a balanced bubble.

Tip #1

Create a budget for your time, energy and resources. Proactive and intentional approaches to time management, money management and energy management will pay you back a thousand fold!!

Tip#2

Create work-life balance through setting healthy boundaries around your work life, work schedule and career in general (physically, mentally, emotionally & spiritually). Then it is up to you to honor those boundaries!

Tip #3

Create a separate work space – clock in and clock out. When you exit your work area leave ALL of the work behind. Do not carry it out with you (mentally, emotionally, physically or spiritually).

Tip #4

Do take a ‘lunch break’… take 45 minutes to 1 hour in the middle of the day for a little siesta! Take a walk, meditate, exercise or whatever act of self-care will replenish your mind, body, heart and spirit.

Tip #5

Connection… we all need it! Find other work-from-homers to connect with, bounce ideas off of, get (and give) support and share community with. Consider a monthly meet-up or even an online google hang out over coffee.

Give it a shot! Apply these 5 simple tips to your work-from-home life for 30 days CONSISTENTLY and see how much balance they will bring! May your work-from-home life be fruitful, joyful, impactful… and BALANCED! Enjoy your beautiful bubble!

Game Planning the Rest of the Year

The last quarter of the year can slip away quickly. As a coach (and also as a busy human) INTENTIONALITY in both game planning and action taking is key to closing out your year in a highly effective way that will create the most PEACE & JOY during the holidays and set you up to launch powerfully into the new year.

Here are a few questions I invite you to consider…

What do I need to resolve, complete or release in this last season of the year in order to be ready for the new year?

What do I need to LEAVE behind mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually?

What do I need to do, what actions do I need to set myself up to begin creating what I want to create next year?

INTENTIONALITY

Setting intentions will help head off ‘the bleed over’ effect. The bleed over effect is when we have thoughts and dreams of what something will be and then before we can bat an eye, the time has passed by and we bleed right into the next season NOT having experienced what we wanted and feeling VERY behind on entering the new season effectively.

Set an intention as to what you want to have, do, create or experience in these last few months of the year. Literally put pen to paper and write out your intention…

For the rest of the year I set an intention of_______________

ACTION TAKING

Since you help so many other people achieve their goals, you already know INTENTIONS must then become POSITIVE & BALANCED ACTION. This is just a gentle reminder and also an invitation to treat your own life this season with as much care and attention as you would for one of your own clients 😉

Create a mini-action plan for yourself….

POSITIVE & BALANCED ACTION GAME PLAN

Things I need to do:

Things I need to experience (support, rest, etc.):

Things I need to release:

Things I need to move towards:

Things that need more balance:

Now that you have a list, put these items into your schedule and make them as high of a priority as client sessions, family needs or even holiday shopping!

Here’s to your BEST end of the year possible. May it be balanced, healthy and fulfilling!

The Sassy Salmon Meal

This may surprise many of you but I love to cook, I mean, I LOOOOVVVEEE to cook! I have never followed recipes. I look at food as art and creating a new meal is like painting a canvas for me. There is so much joy that comes to me from experimentation and creativity around HEALTHY and DELICIOUS meals.

Over the years, the more and more I learned about food and balanced nutrition through both my personal wellness journey as a semi-professional athlete and also over 20 years in the professional wellness and health fields. As someone both raised holistically minded (nutritional, natural and holistic medicine) and as a certified Nutritionist, Integrative Wellness & Life Coach, and PhD in Natural Medicine I believe that feeding the body chemical free, whole foods is one of the most critical things we can do for our health on a physical level.

Treated myself and my family using food as medicine has always been a gold standard and at the same time it is an important value of mine to have balance.

Balance in the nutritional area also means enjoyment! So year after year, creating healthy recipes became more and more of a passion for me. Now I want to share that passion (and its benefits) with you.

I have two Instagram accounts, @RachelEvaOnline and now (my little hobby), @OrganicYum where I will be posting healing foods and recipes to nurture the body and soul. Join me there!

Here is a recent creative culinary adventure I had…

The Sassy Salmon (a meal)

This meal is a perfect balance of macro and micro nutrients, all organic, CLEAN & most of all surprisingly sassy! I’m always looking to create new spins on the plain old ‘healthy’ classics.

Here’s the recipe for the ENTIRE meal:

Sassy Salmon –

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
On a baking pan place 2 wild caught Salmon filets. Squeeze an entire lemon onto the filets. Lightly dust with Himalayan salt, ground black pepper, basil flakes and a tiny dash of Ethiopian brown spicy seasoning (all organic of course). Place 4-6 sundries tomatoes on top of each of the filets. Then bake for 15 minutes (or until the center is cooked all the way through).

Sinful Sweet Twice Baked Potatoes –

Bake whole sweet potato (1 large one) on 450 degrees for 25-35 minutes or until you are able to feel a mushy center with a folk by poking it. Remove and allow to cool.
Reduce oven temp to 350 degrees. Once the potato is room temperature cut the potato in half width ways and then slice each one 1/2 through the length of the potato so you have a slit in it. Sprinkle a dash of the Himalayan salt and then dust lightly with cinnamon. Next, drizzle about 1/4 teaspoon of raw organic coconut oil into the slit of each potato half. Place back in the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Surprisingly ‘Wow’ Kale –

Cover a frying pan in about 1/8 inch of organic olive oil. Place approximately 3 cups of organic diced kale into the pan. Squeeze 1 1/2 large organic lemons onto the kale. Lightly salt. Place another frying pan on top as a lid. Lightly sauté for 5-7 minutes on medium-low heat.

The Medicinal Bath

Bathing is an ancient practice of self-care. From Thailand to India to Russia to across the expanse of time, culture, history and the entire globe, the art of the bath has been practiced for health benefits. Not only does a good warm bath aid in relaxation and stress reduction, it can also have profound medicinal benefits.

Remember that our skin is our largest organ and the largest one we absorb things and expel things through. Drawing yourself a bath with specific herbs, minerals and medicinal natural elements can bring about healing for many ailments and/or facilitate the healing process.

Stress being the leading cause of ALL illness, it is the thing that breaks down our immune system the fastest and creates gaps in our wellness or balance. Stress decreases the ability to properly digest and absorb nutrients which can lead to deficiencies and also to weight gain, fight off infection and disease and regulate our systems (mental, emotional, physical and spiritual). So a relaxing bath has the capacity to boost your immune function significantly when practiced regularly. I say ‘practiced’ because for me the art of the bath, especially medicinal baths are a central part of my self-care and wellness practices.

Ok, what exactly is a medicinal bath?

Medicinal means ‘tending or used to cure disease or relieve pain’ and I am also using it in reference as substances or plants having healing properties. Being that our skin is our largest organ for absorbing and expelling we can draw in many medicinal properties through the medicinal bathing experience… and yes, it is an experience! Just like homeopathic, natural medicine and other holistic or alternative treatments, the medicinal bath has many, many different recipes to support different needs your body and mind may have.

I will be sharing more recipes with you over the coming months for specific ailments, so please do reply with some specific requests that may support or benefit your health. I am happy to take requests!!

With my medicinal bath recipes, I draw from my many years as an Integrative Wellness & Life Coach, studies of natural medicine, tribal healing, and more recently my pursuit of my PhD in Integrative & Natural Medicine. I use herbs, minerals, vitamins, raw plants and flowers, crystals and stones as well as essential oils.

The three favorite more simple and basic medical bath recipes that I have created and used over time are:

The Renewal Bath
The Detox Bath
The Stress Reduction Bath

The Renewal Bath

¼ cup Arnica oil

5-10 drops Eucalyptus oil

Frankincense oil

10-15 drops Myrrh oil

1 cup Colloidal oatmeal

Fresh rose petals (red or pink are preferred or you may use rose water)

1 Hematite stone

1 capsule of vitamin B complex

4 small Amethyst stones

3-5 drops of cinnamon oil

3-5 drops of Grapefruit oil

1 cup Epsom salts

The Detox Bath

1.2 cup Bentonite clay

½ cup Red Moroccan clay

2 small Shungite stones (known to reduce EMF’s and other toxins)

4 table spoons of Manuka honey

4 small Amethyst stones

5-10 drops of Bergamot oil

Ginger (you can juice some ginger root, use ginger tea bags or ginger essential oil – use only a small amount)

1 cup Epsom salts

The Stress Reduction Bath

Magnesium (add about ¼ cup of liquid magnesium)

Lavender oil (10-15 drops)

1 capsule of L-Lysine (to boost the immune system)

4 small Rose Quartz crystals (or one larger one)

2 small Fluorite stone

2 small jade stones

4 small Amethyst stones

Chamomile (you may use either the fresh flowers or 4 chamomile tea bags)

5-10 drops of Bergamot oil

1 cup Epsom salts

Building a Healthy Relationship with Fear

The emotion of fear gets a bad rap. As a teacher, writer and coach I have seen, read and heard countless blogs, posts, articles, books and conversations about how fear must be eradicated and removed from life. Let’s take a quick step back and access this from a psychological and biological position.

All emotions are responses that are wired into our makeup and are part of the full spectrum of human emotions and experiences.

Fear is one of the largest tools for feedback to ensure safety and survival.

It is impossible to remove our ‘fight or flight’ responses.

When we have a healthy relationship with fear it can be a guide versus a roadblock!

So why can fear be so awful and crippling at times? How can we learn to harness this normal emotion to better serve us? How can we work with fear versus against it? How can we better understand ourselves and our life through fear? How can we move beyond the negative impacts of fear? How can we experience and create a healthier and more balanced relationship with fear?

When we have an unbalanced or unhealthy relationship with fear it can block us from moving forward, having clarity, making good choices, effectively solving problems and overcoming life’s challenges, stressors and obstacles.

First, let’s understand health fear…

Fear is a response that is meant to warn us and keep us safe. Unfortunately, many people have become ‘triggered’ into a fight or flight or fear based state 24/7 and thus respond to non-threatening issues as if they were life threatening on a physiological level. This means that the things that may not normally cause fear or stress do.

Let’s try a shift in our perspective about fear…

What if, just what if FEAR was actually there to help you?

What if FEAR was trying to work for your highest good?

Here are some simple steps to begin shifting your relationship with FEAR:

Reset

Pause and reset versus reacting to fear.

Things like meditation, yoga and even simple breathing exercises can help us get back to a neutral place which will better enable us to evaluate our fear more effectively.

Ask Yourself Powerful Questions

Engage your brain in order to get clarity.

Instead of allowing your mind to run away with the fear, as yourself powerful questions that will lead to self-discovery, effective problem solving and solutions. Questions like, ‘why am I feeling fear’, ‘what feedback or alert message is fear trying to share with me’?

Assess

Analyze the situation.

Look at the situation that is causing the fear objectively and try to see the bigger picture, the broader meaning or the direction it is leading you towards and ask yourself WHY & HOW.

Breath Through It

Process and release the negative aspects of the emotion while keeping the lesson or alert.

Feeling our feelings, then processing them and letting it go or releasing it is an important way to not only move forward more effectively but also to bring more balance to you mentally, emotionally, physically and even spiritually.

Make a Plan

Based on your self-discovery and analysis make a plan of actionable steps.

Write out very specific action steps to take to begin moving towards solutions or achieving goals.

Get Support

Gain the tools, techniques, mentors, friends or coaches to help you!

Don’t go it alone! Everyone can relate to feelings of fear and also sometimes getting stuck because of them. Talk about it with friends and loved ones, research tools and techniques or even see a life coach (preferably an Integrative Life Coach iwacoaching.com) who can help you become more equipped to handle fear and stressors as well as to overcome their negative effects and successfully move forward.

Living A Holistic Life

Living A Holistic Life

By Rachel Eva, C.HT, M.NLP, MTILC

Founder of IWA (Integrative Wellness Academy), Integrative Life Coach & Health Practitioner

We hear the word holistic and holism tossed around a lot in integrative wellness and natural medicine. These terms have already flooded the health and wellness markets and made their way into popular culture.

But what exactly does this mean?

What is ‘holism’ and how can it be ‘lived’ in everyday life?

As the founder of IWA (Integrative Wellness Academy), myself and the IWA team trains and certifies thousands of integrative life coaches each year. As part of how we teach our students to coach their clients we educate them on holism as a core element to help their clients achieve health, success and balance through applying ‘holism’ through the Holistic Life Model, which I will share with you!

First, let’s define holistic and holism so you can get some simple clarity. According to dictionary.com, here are the definitions:

Holistic –

Philosophy – characterized by comprehension of the parts of something as intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole.

Medicine – characterized by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the physical symptoms of a disease.

Holism –

The theory that parts of a whole are in intimate interconnection, such that they cannot exist independently of the whole, or cannot be understood without reference to the whole, which is thus regarded as greater than the sum of its parts. Holism is often applied to mental states, language, and ecology.

What does this mean in more simplistic and applicable terms?

Every part of us, our minds (mental), bodies (physical), emotions (emotional) and spirits (spiritual) are interconnected and have an effect on each other, as well as an effect on each of the major areas of life; health, career & finances, family & relationships, spirituality & self-development. Furthermore, each of the major areas of our life have an effect on all aspects or parts of self (the 4 systems); mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. We need to VIEW and CARE care for the whole picture collectively, versus just a few parts in order to live the best life possible.

Before I dive in and introduce you to the Holistic Life Model, I need to further share my definitions with you for the four systems or parts of self:

Mental –

The Mental System is your thought life, including your self-perception and thought patterns as well as our beliefs and conscious perceptions. This is also the way we view other things out in the world.

Emotional –

The Emotional System are your feelings and your emotions. It’s also your relationships with other people and also the relationship you have with yourself.

Physical =

The Physical System is your physical health, as well as the tangible physical things you have in our life.

Spiritual –

The Spiritual System is our true-self, our personal development, connection to community, world and our connection to a higher power, whatever that definition is or is not for you.

The Holistic Life Model

The holistic Life Model is living your life, caring for, balancing and bringing health to all aspects of self and all major areas of life, in other words, caring for the whole self with a ‘big picture’ approach.

So how exactly can you begin to care for and bring balance to all of these aspects of self? Here are a few steps to begin moving your life towards aligning with and practicing the Holistic Life Model:

Set an intention to pay attention to and care for ALL of the systems/aspects of self and all of the major areas of life
Put this intention into daily practice through actions!
Make a ‘to do’ list of actions you can take to bring more wellness, health and balance to each system and to each major area of your life
Schedule it! Put these actions steps into your schedule and stick to them

Remember it’s a process, not an event and the goal is to MOVE towards what you want to have, do, be, experience and achieve!

How Your Yes’s & No’s Shape Your Future

The third or fourth word that many people learn to speak is either yes or no. The first words are often mamma, dada and if a person has a dog, then dog is number three, followed by yes and no.

Yes and no are two words in the English language we learn early on and use to exercise our power, express our needs and our preferences.

A yes or a no can have a significant effect on how we create what we experience in life. Often this is approached unintentionally from a place that is not rooted in self-love or honesty with oneself.

When we say yes to something we are aligning ourselves with that. A yes is also an invitation for it to be in your life and in a sense, it is agreeing with it. A person, place, thing or situation such as a request or voiced expectation from a loved one, diagnosis from a doctor or even an invitation to go on a date, gives us the opportunity to be intentional about what we allow and create in our lives.

One of my favorite and self-loving things to say is ‘I’m going to say no to this so that I can say yes to something else’. Another favorite is when I am told what I should do, before I say yes to that or agree with it, I allow myself the time and space to consider what has been shared with me as feedback. Then I determine what, if any, of that feedback will be helpful for me to take and incorporate into my life.

Give yourself permission to change your mind. You can try on a yes for size and discover it needs to become a no and vice versa.

When we say yes because we feel like we should, like it is expected of us, but it is not our truthful response, we are essentially stepping out of alignment with our true selves and saying yes to things that conflict with our truth. When we are in conflict, even on an unconscious or subconscious level, it creates chaos, unhappiness and many other problems in our lives.

We have all heard the famous saying ‘be true to thine self’ – however many of us don’t realize the consequences and disconnection from self we experience when we choose to say yes when our truth is a no.

We can still show up for our responsibilities and obligations, however we can do so in ways that do not conflict with our personal values and our authentic truth. Boundaries are helpful in managing this effectively.

In addition to setting healthy boundaries for yourself (not creating rules and controlling others – see my blog on clearing toxic relationships and boundaries) it is also important to ask ourselves the following questions when presented with invitations to make choices and express a yes or a no:

Will saying yes or saying no serve me more?
Will saying yes or saying no lead towards balance and harmony in myself and in my life?
Do I want to say yes or say no? (Be honest with yourself) and then ask yourself ‘Why?’.
Which answer helps me best take care of myself while also showing up for life?
What does my gut say?
What’s the bigger picture? What will saying yes or saying no invite into my life and create, what will it lead away from?

Asking ourselves these questions helps us move beyond any beliefs or perspectives that are limiting us. It helps to step away from expectations that do not serve us (typically self-inflicted expectations) and gain clarity about the bigger picture of what we are creating and moving towards in our lives.

I invite you to let go of that which no longer serves you and to give yourself permission to say yes or to say no. Practicing intentionality towards your yes’s and no’s will empower you to create the life you want and to decrease the stress and negative things impacting your life.

Let all of your answers come from honoring your higher self, your truth. Boldly curate your life with intentional yes’s and intentional no’s.

An Eco Vacation That Will Change Your Life!

Each year I get very excited to lead the Breakthrough Wellness Retreat, An integrative life coaching experience, because each year I hear what a game changer this is for those who attend.

Many times my clients and students experience being stuck, seemingly unable to overcome certain experiences or roadblock. After years of integrative life coaching and teaching through Integrative Wellness Academy I have seen thousands of life changing breakthroughs! During the retreat, I pack together the powerful tools and techniques from over 20 different healing modalities to help people experience powerful and tangible change amidst a backdrop of tropical paradise!

What is a breakthrough wellness retreat?

The Breakthrough Wellness Retreat is a weekend-long, immersion-style, self-development retreat. The retreat applies mine and Integrative Wellness Academy’s (IWA) integrative wellness and life transformation coaching toolkit, which integrates over 20 different healing modalities. This toolkit includes Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), hypnosis, Therapeutic Yoga, life coaching, Emotional Clearing Method (ECM), Thought Pattern Management (TPM), reiki, integrative wellness & life coaching, and powerful forgiveness techniques.

I will guide you through the process of letting go of what no longer serves you, identify what limits you from your highest potential, clarify your goals and purpose, and create an action plan to achieve them! You will walk away from this retreat with a personal strategy for success and fulfillment, both personally and professionally, with a personal action plan and personal business plan that you have created during the retreat. Come rest, renew and completely transform your life!

What is integrative life coaching?

Integrative Life Coach: A coach trained in life coaching fundamentals combined with a diverse range of healing modalities in the areas of mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual wellness to make positive changes in all areas of life.

Integrative life coaching integrates numerous healing modalities to equip and empower clients to live balanced and successful lives. Integrative life coaching uses techniques, mind-body tools, and action plans to achieve permanent behavior change. During this retreat, Rachel will help you get from where you are in life to where you want to be. Rachel will coach you towards achieving mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual balance that will benefit your life long after the weekend retreat is over.

What does is mean to bring balance to all four aspects of self; mental, emotional, physical and spiritual?

I use the Holistic life model to coach you towards achieving wellness and balance in each of the four aspects of self and in each major area of life such as career, health, relationships and self-development.

Holistic Life Coaching Model

Mind

thought life, mental models, self perception, and mental patterns

Emotions

emotions and relationships with self and others

Physical

health or tangible things like career or finances

Spirit

awareness, self-discovery, connection, and spirituality

What is an Integrative Life Coaching Toolbox?

Using over 20 different healing modalities, I have developed an integrative approach to life coaching that has many powerful tools and techniques to help you achieve lasting positive change.

One of the powerful tools that you will be lead through is emotional clearing.

Experience Emotional Clearing Method and gain freedom…

Emotional Clearing Method (ECM)

An innovative emotional healing technique for both the conscious and unconscious mind.

Emotional Clearing Method™ (ECM) is an alternative therapeutic emotional clearing technique developed by Rachel Eva, the founder of IWA. ECM is an advanced integrative life coaching technique that draws on various modalities and theories of neuroscience, mental health, life coaching, and alternative therapies, including neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), hypnosis, hypnotherapy, Mind-Body Medicine, and cognitive behavioral therapy. The foundations of ECM stem from neuroplasticity research and current research on emotions and beliefs effects and interconnection on biology.

ECM was developed after years of research and training with different modalities. It works with your brains neural pathways to release negative psychological patterns and connections to limiting beliefs and negative emotions that block many of us from moving forward in freedom. Recent medical studies have proven that these beliefs and stuck emotions, negative psychological patterns, and genetic markers influence our conscious and unconscious minds. These imprints can stem from our childhood, in utero, and even before we were born through intergenerational epigenetic inheritance.

In its simplest description, ECM combines powerful emotional healing techniques and mind-body medicine with the stimulation of neural pathways to release negative psychological patterns, attachments to negative emotions and limiting beliefs on the conscious and unconscious levels.

About me, the retreat leader…

Rachel Eva

Founder & Head Instructor Integrative Wellness Academy, Author, National Speaker & Integrative Life Coach

Rachel is an international speaker, IWA founder and head instructor, author, and Integrative Life Coach. As head instructor for IWA life coaching academy, Rachel teaches thousands of students each year through IWA professional and master level Integrative Life Coach certification programs.

Rachel is a self-development author and leader in the integrative wellness industry. She is a contributing writer of articles covering self-development and integrative wellness for several magazines. Rachel is certified in over 20 healing modalities that support her integrative approach to life coaching, self-development, and integrative wellness.

She is board certified through the Association for Integrative Psychology as a practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), master practitioner of NLP, practitioner of Mental Emotional Release® (MER), Certified Thought Pattern Management (TPM) Practitioner and clinical Hypnotherapist. She was also trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Rachel is a master trainer of Integrative Coaching and certified as a personal trainer and yoga therapist. She has received certifications in ERYT yoga, sports nutrition, and sports therapeutics.

Rachel believes that your past does not define your future and you can be empowered to live the life you desire. Her work is designed to support coaches and clients create the change they seek and the life they want!

In addition to the work and instruction described above, you will also get other wellness amenities that are standard at Playa Viva. This retreat includes:

Three nights eco-luxe beachfront accommodations
Farm-to-table, mostly organic, healthy meals (recipes personally designed by Rachel Eva and prepared for you by Playa Viva’s top health chef)
Daily meditation, yoga, and journal writing
Outdoor activities, such as walks and hiking and beach adventures

When? July 7-10, 2017

Pricing:

The cost of this breakthrough experience is priceless and dramatically less expensive than years of therapy or ongoing life coaching! Walk away with tangible positive changes.

Double occupancy: $2450

Single occupancy: $3050

Price is per person and includes retreat tuition, accommodations, all meals, non-alcoholic beverages, taxes, and roundtrip airport ground transfers (fly into Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo – ZIH). Additional charges will apply for bar drinks, smoothies, massage/spa services, gratuities and optional donation to sea turtle sanctuary. Airfare is additional and must be booked separately.

To enroll

To make a reservation, please do so directly through Integrative Wellness Academy.

If you have any questions, please call +1-818-358-3131, or email rachel@iwacoaching.com

DEMYSTIFYING MEDITATION

Meditation can be an uncomfortable thing to consider or practice for many. There can be preconceived notions or beliefs about meditation that make the idea of it scary, unachievable or just seem down-right weird. But in actual practice you can find a way to meditate that will work for you, your life style, time constraints and beliefs that will be safe and effective.

Why meditate? Simple, it has been scientifically proven to reduce stress, which increases health, balance and enjoyment of life. Who does not want to be happier and healthier? It is also a powerful tool for self-discovery, self-care and personal growth.

So how can we unweave some of the odd things you have seen or heard about meditation? Let me help demystify the concept of meditation for you a bit:

You do not have to meditate for any specific amount of time to see benefits. Even 2 minutes of meditation can have a powerful and positive impact on your life.
Meditation does not have to be religious or conflict with your personal beliefs, no matter what your beliefs are.
Meditation is not something that you may immediately enjoy, find easy or see radical benefits from. You can’t do one sit up and then expect to have ripped abs. Meditation is a practice that needs to be consistently performed and developed into a habit before you will see the full benefits and enjoyment of it. Learning to quiet the mind and sit still can be very hard for some, yet I promise it is achievable for EVERYONE (even those with ADD, ADHD, racing thoughts or even OCD).

I was introduced to meditation when I was 5 years old. I have studied many forms of meditation, developed my own personal meditation practice and taught meditation to thousands of people around the world. So let me help you understand meditation a bit more from my perspective.

I like to describe meditation is ‘marinating’ on something, something within that is silent. Those of you who cook may have an understanding of this, especially when it comes to grilling steaks. For any vegetarians…I lovingly respect you and I am not sorry, it’s an effective example so please try to relate in…

Say you are grilling a steak; most people will marinate the meat or let it sit submerged in something for a predetermined period of time in order that the meat will soak up as much of the marinade as possible (for flavor). Fully marinating and submerging meat in the marinade causes an environment where the meat can fully soak the marinade into every part of the meat…even all the way into the center. Why? So the steak can be transformed into the best and most flavorful version of itself. Do you get the analogy? Sweet!

Meditation is a ‘dropping in’ or ‘checking in’ to being completely present with oneself. We spend so much time in motion, in doing, meditation helps us to learn to be. To be present with oneself and to tap into a connection to something greater. This something greater can be anything you define it as…nature, energy, God, the Divine, Spirit, the collective unconscious, the universe or even simply ‘love’.

If prayer is talking to that higher thing, then

meditation could be called listening.

When we meditate we are marinating in being, in our relationship with self and also the relationship with that higher thing. When we take the time to marinate, we soak it up. That gives us flavor!

Meditation can be focused on a specific religious or spiritual alignment or it can be completely focused on relaxation and ‘emptying the mind’. The choice is yours.

There is a form of meditation that will feel safe and comfortable for you. That is the one to choose. However, discovering the most effective form of meditation will take a commitment on your part to experimenting, paying attention to the feedback within yourself and making adjustments.

Beginning to meditate…

‘Where do I start??? There are so many options and opinions about how to do it right’! I invite you to let that belief go. There is no one way to meditate. There is no one way that is right or wrong. The best advice I can give you is to begin to meditate in any way you want. Start where you are and grow from there.

Do some searches for meditations and guided meditations, and watch a few. Try the ones that interest you. See what helps you begin to connect with your internal landscape.

Here is a simple meditation that I teach –

Find a comfortable place to sit down where you won’t be interrupted.

Turn off your phone ringer.

Close your eyes.

Focus your attention on your breath.

Begin to deepen your breath.

Breath deep relaxed breaths versus forced breaths.

Give yourself permission to let your thoughts float by without engaging in them.

Any time you find yourself thinking or becoming distracted, simply and lovingly bring your focus back to your breath.

Continue to just BE and focus on your breathing.

Do this for as long as or as short of an amount of time as you would like.

When you are done, congratulate yourself on your accomplishment and investment in yourself. It is not helpful to critique or judge your meditation. Simply pay attention to the internal feedback that arises after and make adjustments to your next meditation session.

Remember to give your meditation muscles a chance to grow strong through regular practice. Some of the benefits you may experience after you practice consistently are; less stress, increased health, decreased illness, peaceful thought life, better ability to deal with difficult people, places and situations, more mindfulness in all areas of your life, a deeper understanding of yourself, spiritual growth and more general happiness.

Be patient with yourself and the process.

It is worth the investment of time and energy!

Taking Ownership of Your Outcome Through Integrative Wellness

What is Integrative Wellness and how can it help me overcome obstacles and empower me to create the life I want?

Integrative Wellness is wellness, wholeness or balance all all four aspects of self; mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. The word integrative as defined by the dictionary is: Combining allopathic and complementary therapies and/or serving or intending to unify separate things.

All four of these aspects of self are interconnected and effect one another. For example, you can experience weight gain on the physical and it’s core or root issue can actually be in the emotional system. True wellness and harmony is experienced when there is balance in all four systems or aspects of self. This wellness will then branch out and create positive results in the major areas of life such as career, relationships, family, health and self development.

What exactly are these four systems defined as? The ‘Mental’ system is the area of thought life, self perception and beliefs. The ‘Emotional’ system is our emotions and relationships, this includes our negative emotions and feelings about the past. The ‘Physical’ system is our health and physical body as well as all the things we create around us; job, home, finances, organization etc. The ‘Spiritual’ system is our connection to our true self, our higher self or God, energy, love, nature (any definition you choose), what we believe spiritually and the way we choose to grow that connection through actions. The Spiritual system is different then religion, religion is one example of a way to increase balance or wholeness within the spiritual system if one so chooses.

How can I get help? Getting coached in this area may be hugely beneficial to the quality of life you desire to live. You may be familiar with the term ‘life coach’. A life coach is traditionally defined as a person who counsels and encourages clients on matters having to do with careers or personal challenges. An Integrative Wellness & Life Coach (trained and certified through Integrative Wellness Academy) has knowledge & training in ‘integrative’ approaches and techniques to help resolve core issues and roadblocks in the areas of mental, emotional, spiritual and physical wellness (wholeness or balance).

Integrative Wellness & Life Coaches can help people gain freedom from the past, overcome habits and patterns that block fulfillment in an area of life as well as help clients take the actions necessary to live the life they have always desired. An Integrative Wellness & Life Coach does this through the holistic & integrative approach of coaching towards balance (harmony or wholeness) in all four body systems; mental, emotional, physical and spiritual.

This approach moves life coaching from simply counseling and encouraging to fully equipping and empowering clients to make effective change. The clients of an Integrative Wellness & Life Coach can experience and expect to walk away with a personal plan to move them towards wellness & health in the areas of mind (thought life & patterns), emotions (emotions & relationships), physical (this can be physical health or physical surroundings/situations such as career or finance) and spiritual health (awareness & spirituality).

I wanted to provide one of the exercises our coaches use for you all to try! This exercise helps you to identify areas that are out of balance and intentionally move you towards balance, wellness and wholeness as well as to uncover actions that are leading you away from balance, wellness and wholeness. Once you have identified these, you can INTENTIONALLY list effective actions to help move you towards balance and create the outcomes you desire!

Here’s how:

Fill in the in the graph below, do one graph for each of the systems—mental, emotional, physical and spiritual:

screen-shot-2016-09-12-at-7-11-43-pm

If you have ever had a passion for having a career helping others, or are you simply interested in getting equipped to help yourself, my company, Integrative Wellness Academy offers Integrative Wellness & Life Coach certification courses both in person and online. If you are interested in attending please email us! You can read more about our team, trainings and reviews on our web site http://www.integrativewellnessacademy.com/

Or if you have any questions feel free to email the team at info@integrativewellnessacademy.com

In wellness,

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