Conscious Mindset. Stress

Shift a Limiting Mindset and Move Forward

Leave a comment

Today my client asked, “Is it really necessary to heal stuff from your past to move forward in your wealth?”  The answer is yes, just as it is also the case when we wish to move forward in any aspect of our life. The ‘stuff’ from our past forms the basis of our mindset and beliefs. In turn this leads to the habits we develop and then allow to guide the choices we make through our life.

This ‘stuff’ may have to do with relationships, health, career, money, self-care, self-image, family, weight or any other area of our life.

The Origins of Our Mindset

‘Stuff’ arises from the beliefs we formed in our childhood. Our mindset, or beliefs and stories, is the result of both our experiences and what we were told by society; parents, teachers, peers and the church. These ideas that we took on as our own were actually the beliefs held by others who were important to us during our formative years.

While these beliefs may have been something specific such as ‘you can’t trust strangers”, they were more often implicit ideas and beliefs.

For instance, if we overheard our parents frequently fighting about money we may grow up with a subconscious belief that money is bad. As a small child we have no real concept of money. But we come to associate money with unhappiness because whenever our parents fought about it, we felt fearful and unhappy.

This belief about money may also ripple out to affect how we spend our money. We may be reluctant to part with our money, we may splurge, spend money we don’t have and get into heavy debt or subconsciously sabotage wealth-creation. This could then reinforce our subconscious belief that ‘money is bad’ or that money causes trouble.

This underlying emotion and the subconscious belief that money is a bad thing may result in a ‘poverty mentality’. Or it may lead to a distrust of anyone who is either quite wealthy or quite poor financially.

Are Your Beliefs Holding You Back?

Just as the beliefs we hold direct our habits, they also direct how ready and willing we are to step outside our comfort zone to take a chance on something new. If they relate to something specific about our role and the actions we take, our beliefs can certainly hold us back.

Wealth

If we subconsciously believe that money is a bad thing, we are unlikely to attempt a new challenge that promises to generate lots of money, particularly if it carries any hint of risk. We may subconsciously believe that if we have lots of that ‘bad thing’, money, it will make us a bad person by association.

Relationships

If our mindset directs how we relate to others it could become a block to our finding a deep and meaningful relationship with a life partner. Relationships may be difficult to form or maintain if you constantly heard someone significant to you ridiculing either men or women.  Or if, as a child, you constantly witnessed parents fighting.  Children lack the filters to separate themselves from the influence of those in authority.

Self Care

In a similar way you also form beliefs that influence how you treat yourself.  If you were always frowned upon or told “don’t be greedy” when you asked for anything as a child, you may find it difficult to attend to your self-care needs as an adult. Your mindset may be that to ask for anything for yourself means you are a selfish and greedy person.

Limiting Beliefs Hinder Growth

Long-held beliefs lodge in our subconscious so we may not even be aware of them. However, they run constantly regardless of our awareness, influencing what we do and how we behave.

When we operate from subconscious beliefs, we are not able to make rational, considered decisions. We are simply not in the control seat so we react rather than act consciously. And we may not even be aware we’re doing this.

If we’ve never questioned our habits or uncovered the underlying beliefs, we remain oblivious to the fact that we’re operating under the influence of someone else’s fears or toxic experience.  In this state we’re not able to shift the limiting mindset to make room for the beliefs we actually DO have, or we wish to develop.

We stay held back by patterns and beliefs that cause us to avoid challenges and deter us from taking risks. The fear of failure that accompanies this mindset quickly leads to us self-sabotage success.

Break Apart Your Conditioned Limiting Mindset

A limited mindset leaves us running on autopilot guided by negative self-talk that limits opportunities for personal growth. Just like an overload of apps on a smartphone this collection of subconscious, limiting beliefs constantly run in the background leaving us self-critical, indecisive, unfulfilled and unhappy overall.

However, the fear-based thinking, limiting beliefs and negative self-talk that form this fixed mindset are not set in steel, even if they have been there since childhood. The brain is quite capable of rewiring itself. The mental blocks that hinder growth can be broken apart and reshaped to allow for self-growth, greater insight and advancement.

Practice Mindful Awareness

To start training your awareness muscle the first thing you need to do is simply to NOTICE. Whenever you find yourself hesitating to take action, especially if it’s something completely new, pause.

Stop and notice what you’re reluctant to do. Feel into exactly what aspect of this makes you uncomfortable. It’s likely the underlying limiting belief is connected with this aspect.

You don’t need to work everything out yet. At this stage it’s simply a matter of noticing an underlying belief exists. You’re simply being asked to notice that self-limitation appears whenever you’re challenged with being outside your comfort zone.

Recognise Your Limiting Beliefs

You’ll quickly notice that your reluctance to move forward always relates to a specific fear, such as not being liked, or appearing selfish, or frivolous, unkind, lazy, or any other of the many fears we can hold around being judged by others.

As you start to notice this more, you’ll find the belief begins to unravel bit by bit.

It’s an ongoing process. But even just becoming aware of the beliefs that hold us back without getting sucked into the associated emotions starts the process. It will continue to unfold over time as long as you stay aware and observant.

Going Deeper

The mindset blocks are all connected even when they’re focused on a particular area of our life or psyche. For example, when a money belief locks down our capacity to generate wealth, our health will also be poor, our relationships hollow, career unfulfilling. We experience poverty in all areas of our life.

Beliefs and habits that originally came from outside the self can keep us stuck in a cycle dictated by fear. Within this cycle all aspects of our life are affected.

Break the Mindset Chains

When we shift any of the stuff from our past (that is, the stuff that creates beliefs and habits) everything else shifts as well. So, shifting relationship stuff from the past supports us to move forward in our relationship, our health, our business and in all other parts of our life.

Don’t wait until you’ve reached a point where you’re desperate for change. Step out of the emotion now and observe what’s really going on. Your blocks will begin to shift. And as you continue to use this process you will also continue to release more blocks.

No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.

~ Albert Einstein

Shift Your Core Beliefs

Self-awareness, reframing thoughts, using affirmations are all somewhat helpful when dealing with fixed mindsets. However, these and many other practices are all conducted using only the conscious mind. While useful, this is a limited way to break subconscious patterns.

The key to effectively releasing limiting blocks and patterns is to adopt practices that engage with all levels of mind – the superconscious, subconscious as well as the conscious. Ritual is an excellent way to achieve this because it involves all levels of consciousness.

Most conscious ritual practices significantly engage all the senses simultaneously and therefore take your awareness into all three levels of mind, instead of just the conscious level.

Healing the Subconscious Mindset

Working with all three levels of consciousness rather than just the conscious mind is more effective because limiting blocks and patterns aren’t conscious. They are a subconscious program which means they can hide, completely hidden from our awareness. Therefore, they are really difficult to shift completely if we try to do it from the conscious mind through things like affirmations or ‘vibrating high’.

By engaging in certain types of ritual, we are able to access and utilise the three levels of mind simultaneously.  Guided by the wisdom of the superconscious we can draw the power of intention from the conscious mind to break apart what’s held in the subconscious.

Creating and enacting ritual is powerful because it doesn’t rely on what someone else does for you. It allows you to step up, own your power and take control of your life. It opens the door for you to become a Self-determined Being.

DISCLAIMER

All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Do not use this article to diagnose a health condition. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested anywhere on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue.

© Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health, 2026. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from the author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided full and clear credit is given to Catherine Bullard, Alchemy of Wellness and Happy Holistic Health with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Meditation & Mindfulness, Metaphysics & Intuition

Do You Live Mind-fully or Mind-lessly?

Leave a comment

Mindfulness is acclaimed as a marvel within the wellness movement where it is regarded as a fundamental tool with enormous benefits. With well-documented, science-backed evidence that it alters the brain profoundly, mindfulness can be used to bring about inner calm, reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression, improve focus and even manage pain.

Mindfulness encourages one to live a life with more lightness.

Jon Kabat-Zinn

There’s plenty of evidence about the power mindfulness has to improve health and wellbeing. But in spite of this widespread knowledge of its benefits most people don’t get around to doing it.

For many this hesitancy arises simply because they are not really clear about what mindfulness actually is. Although it’s often regarded as a form of meditation, mindfulness is fundamentally more akin to the cultivation of a non-judgemental deep awareness of the environment, both within and around the individual. It teaches you not to react automatically to every thought, feeling or situation.

Mindlessness

When you are living mindlessly you usually don’t realise it.

That’s because you live your life on autopilot and your attention is often in multiple places at the one time.  As your attention drifts you move through life unaware of what is happening around you or even within you. Thoughts, sensations and emotions pass through your consciousness without you noticing or registering them at more than a superficial level. And your short-term memory is often poor.

Because you’re unaware of your body you often ignore the clues it is giving you, until you get sick. 

Living mindlessly can shorten your life and it can also seriously affect the quality of your life.

Mindlessness isn’t a flaw in your character. It’s actually a way for your brain to conserve energy and at times it can be good. But the problem comes when you drift into mindlessness at times when you need to be focused and attentive. It’s also a problem when it becomes your default position day after day.

Mindlessness can be an attempt to distance our self from relationships or experiences that are difficult.

“… when we habitually run away from what’s going on inside us and in our relationships … we end up becoming even more alienated and sad.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

Signs You’re Living Mindlessly

✦ Becoming so focused on achieving a goal that you don’t take time out to reflect whether achieving that goal will make you happy, or if you really want it.

✦ Forgetting people’s names right after being introduced to them.

✦ Being constantly preoccupied.

✦ Reading without taking in the content and having to go back and reread the page.

✦ Scrolling on your phone while only half listening to a conversation.

✦ Eating without being aware of the taste or smell of what you are eating.

✦ Driving on autopilot, so that you are not aware until you reach your destination.

✦ Using work, food, alcohol, TV as a distraction from emotions or thoughts.

Mindfulness Meditations

Mindfulness meditations don’t have a rigid format. Rather they are simple practices that draw your focused attention through your senses to what you are doing in the moment. By thinking of mindfulness in these terms any pressure associated with ‘getting the meditation right’ is removed. This makes it easier to actually begin to develop mindfulness and make it a part of your daily life.

Cultivating greater awareness allows us to quickly separate mindfulness from unconscious, habitual behaviours, or mindlessness. This helps us shift our consciousness to mindful awareness.

To start your Mindful Awareness practice, begin to recognise whenever you notice you are engaging in mindless activity. Use it to help you hold back from overreacting with automatic unhelpful responses.

Mindfulness is when you consciously focus on the present moment. It requires a deliberate choice to not allow the mind to drift aimlessly.

Four Simple Mindfulness Meditations

1. Savour Your Meals:  Be mindful during the first three bites of your meal.  Really focus on the smell, texture and taste.  Chew slowly. Savour the moment.

2. Stop to observe:  Take a moment each day to stop what you are doing and watch your surroundings, free of judgement.  Simply observe and notice.

3. Breathe…Just Breathe:  Simply sit and breathe in a quiet room for 10 minutes.  Focus on the subtle movements of your body at rest – how is your body moving and how does it feel.

4. Visualise your thoughts: Empty your mind by envisioning your thoughts as objects, and through breathing focus on each one for a few seconds before pushing the thoughts further and further away.

Disclaimer

All information and opinions presented here are for information only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a health consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before trying treatment suggested on this site.

© Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health, 2026. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health with appropriate and specific direction to the original content

Ancestral Wisdom, Metaphysics & Intuition

The 8 Clair Senses: Your Intuitive Psychic Abilities

Leave a comment

We are all familiar with our five senses – seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and smelling. But you may not be as familiar with your other senses. Much like you have five physical senses, you also have eight ‘clair’ senses or intuitive psychic senses. Everyone has them but not everyone is tuned into them. For many they exist as psychic potential that is just waiting to be switched on.

Just as the name suggests these senses are accessed through your intuition. Once switched on you can develop and strengthen them so you can use them to guide choices to support your growth.

In Psychic terms the clair senses are:

Let’s take a look at each of these individually.

Clairvoyance

A clairvoyant (clear-seeing) receives extrasensory impressions and symbols in the form of visions or mental images through their mind’s eye (third eye). Their eyes can be either open or shut as they download information. You may be clairvoyant if you experience vivid dreams with premonitions. Often clairvoyance manifests as visions, mental images or mini movies that flash across your inner awareness. Sometimes they appear as a movie on a psychic screen in front of you. You may be able to see the colors of the energy fields (auras) around people, plants and animals, or perhaps you are able to see angels, ghosts or other beings. Although most people know about clairvoyance it’s not the most common psychic ability

If you are someone who can easily visualise solutions to problems, have a great sense of direction, or are very good with visual-spatial problems like rearranging furniture or loading and arranging the items in the dishwasher you may have a predisposition for clairvoyance.

A clairvoyant may be able to see the future (precognition), to clarify the present as it is happening (most common) and psychically see the past (postcognition).

Claircognisance

Claircognisance (clear knowing) is when you suddenly know without any doubt that something is true, even though you didn’t see it, hear it or feel it. You just know it. It’s like an instant psychic insight or a download of information that needs no processing or interpretation. Claircognisance can show up as a nagging idea or unrelenting thought, similar to the persistent awareness that someone is lying to you when you have no actual evidence of it. Or you may suddenly know complex information that is completely outside your knowledge or experience. You don’t feel it or sense, you know it.

When this clair sense kicks in for me, I don’t have any question about the information at all, even if it’s about something I’ve never heard about before. It’s absolutely rock solid. I know, and don’t need proof to know it’s correct.

Many individuals confuse claircognisance (clear knowing) with clairempathy (clear emotion) or clairsentience (clear physical feeling) because their “knowing” is quickly followed by either an emotional or physical reaction to the insight. Over time paying attention to how the insight comes into your awareness will help you distinguish the difference.

Clairaudience

If you are clairaudient (clear hearing) you perceive sounds, words or noise from the spiritual or ethereal realm. Someone is clairaudient if they mainly receive their intuitive information with their inner or outer hearing. This is absolutely about hearing voices, either outside yourself or in your head.

For example, imagine you’re driving to work and suddenly hear the direction “Take the next exit”. There is no one in the vehicle with you but the message is clear and seemed to come from outside yourself. So you take the next exit instead of continuing on your usual route. Later you discover your detour meant you avoided a five-car pile-up, which would have meant you missed a very important meeting.

Clairaudience may also mean that rather than hearing words your ears simply feel hot. Or you may hear sounds like a gong or a bell. Or even that the words of a song or speech resonate with your inner thought at that moment.

You might be clairaudient if you are naturally attuned to sounds, tones, rhythm and music. If you sing, play music, have an easy time remembering voices, or can easily hear in someone’s voice when they’re lying you may have a predisposition to clairaudience.

Clairempathy

Clairempathy (clear emotional feeling) is an ability to sense other people’s emotions, thoughts and symptoms. It is an awareness or perception of emotional energy. You don’t necessarily experience the feeling in your body, but you are aware of the feeling.

This is different to being an empath. It might mean you can feel others’ emotions from far away or in advance. You are Clair empathic if you can sense the emotion in a room before you walk into it. For example, sensing the anger and hurt before walking in on a couple arguing. Or sensing sadness in a loved one across the globe without communicating with them.

Empaths need self-care and psychic protection techniques to successfully manage their empathic nature and shield themselves from energetic overload. A skilled empath knows how to maintain spiritual boundaries, replenish energy and clear unwanted negative energy from their auric field.

The difference between clairempathy and clairsentience is that empaths sense the energy and emotion whereas sentients feel the energy and emotion. Sentients actually experience it.

Clairsentience

A clairsentient (clear physical feeling) gains intuitive insight through physically experiencing the energy in their body. This is quite a common psychic ability. Clairsentients have a “gut feeling” or “something doesn’t feel right” and experience it as a deep physical sensation in their body.

Clairsentients feel, not just sense, the experience of other people’s emotions, ailments or injuries. They can also feel the physical and emotional pain of a land or place where tragic events have occurred by sensing the associated emotions such as fear, jealousy, insecurity, hatred and pain.

Often this ability is felt internally but it may be felt on the outside of your body as goosebumps or raised hairs or even a draught of cold air.

A friend of mine, a gifted psychic medium and clairsentient, gets shooting pains in her body when she walks through the riverbank area where a massacre occurred a hundred years ago. Where a clairempath would have a sense of it and a claircognisant would know it had happened, the clairsentient feels it in their body.

The difference between clairempathy and clairsentience is that empaths sense the energy and emotion whereas sentients experience the energy and emotion.

Clairtangency

Clairtangency is a psychically heightened sense of touch. You may have clairtangency (clear touching) if you have the ability to perceive facts about an event or person through direct contact with an object belonging to them or even with the person. This is also commonly known as psychometry.

You may be clairtangient if you quickly gain unknown insights when you hold someone’s watch or ring, touch their hand, when you pick up an old antique, or you touch an old building.

If you find it disturbing to have old things around you because they drain your energy you may be clairtangent.

Clairalience

For those with clairalience (clear smelling) insights come through the perception of smell. This might be smelling the odour or fragrance of a substance, person, place or animal that is not in your immediate surroundings. You perceive these odours without using your physical nose. Other names for this are Clairscent and Clairscentency.

For example, you may suddenly get a strong smell of the perfume your deceased grandmother used to wear. Nobody else with you is wearing that perfume. Your grandmother is reaching out from the spirit world to communicate with you. Or you may smell flowers that remind you of a living person which serves to nudge you to contact them.

Other clairsalients smell a wide range of aromas such as spices, foods, animals and many more. I have smelt easily recognisable essential oils such as cedarwood oil during meditations. The smells don’t linger. They come in as a brief whiff and then they’re gone.

Experiencing scents might trigger the other senses to “see” “hear” or “feel” what spirit or your intuition is trying to communicate.

Clairgustance

An individual with clairgustance (clear tasting) receives psychic information through their sense of taste without having any physical source of that taste in their mouth.

People sometimes report tasting a favourite food or drink from a loved one who has passed away. Sometimes the taste will draw you to a crucial detail in the situation that you may have overlooked.

Others report that when they are problem-solving they receive helpful information through an extrasensory taste in their mouths. For example, police sometimes get an unexplained taste of blood or a certain chemical relating to a specific drug when investigating crimes, which guides them to discovering what really happened.

Identify Your Psychic Ability

Meditation or being alone in nature are great places to open yourself to recognising the Clair senses. Begin to detect your dominant Clair Sense by opening your awareness to anything you notice outside your normal physical senses. When you become aware of something, don’t doubt it, don’t put it down to your imagination or your strong wish to detect through your Clair Senses. Instead, simply acknowledge and accept you have experienced this as confirmation that you will continue to access information via this sense in the future.

Most people have more than one Clair Sense, however one sense will be dominant. Being present and focusing your awareness to notice how your intuitive insights come to you will highlight your dominant Clair Sense. Once you are clear about which of the eight is dominant for you, you’ll begin to notice when other Clair Senses come online to support and expand the intuitive insights you are receiving from your dominant Clair Sense.

Disclaimer

All information and opinions presented here are for information only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before trying treatment suggested on this site.

© Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health, 2012. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health with appropriate and specific direction to the original content

Conscious Mindset. Stress, Holistic Health & Natural Remedies, Nature's Rhythms

Seasonal Renewal for Spring Wellness

Leave a comment

Flowers are blooming, birds are nesting, the sun is shining and the days warming as the Earth breathes a deep sigh and Spring bursts forth.

As we finally bid Winter farewell Spring is blossoming, an exuberant reminder of abundance, growth and the promise of new beginnings. We’re ready to shrug off winter, stretch and expand our energy up and outwards.

Spring is a time of transformation and growth; a time to renew your energy and change your life. As the days warm and lengthen through Spring, you’ll start to feel lighter, both emotionally and physically.

Adopting these practices will leave you feeling your best and at the peak of Spring Wellness. Make them a part of your daily ritual to launch your momentum and rise to your fullest summer potential.

AWAKEN

Get outside. Let your inner child out to play, socialise and have fun. The sun is up earlier and staying around later. Join him and get outside to watch the dawn. Even if you wake grumpy give yourself the opportunity to get out, feel the earth under your feet and soak in all the benefits of grounding.

MOVE

Don’t let restlessness irritate you during Spring. Instead use it to kick-start your exercise program.

Spring is a great time to overhaul, or begin, your exercise routine. Walk, join a dance class, take up yoga or tai chi, join a hiking group or cricket team. Honour your body by not overdoing it and remember to keep hydrated or you’ll become fatigued very quickly.

RELEASE

If you want to bring the new into your life you must make space for it. Whether it’s a new spring wardrobe, new habits or new thought patterns, if you want to create a new you, you need to de-clutter first. The first step is to release everything that no longer serves you.

With the arrival of Spring our thoughts turn to Spring cleaning, and that also goes for our mindset. Spring offers a great opportunity to clear the mind and get rid of thoughts that undermine our self-esteem or are toxic to relationships. Once you clear out old toxic thought patterns you can start planting positivity seeds to create a life you love.

EAT

As we move out of winter’s chill we need to change our diet. The heavy, salty foods of winter put a strain on your liver, which is sensitive and can quickly become imbalanced during spring. Your liver is the main detoxifier in your body, so it needs some TLC during spring. Cut back on alcohol, fats, oil and particularly junk food.

Sour foods like vinegar, lemons, limes and grapefruit stimulate the liver. An excellent practice for Spring wellness is drinking lemon or lime water in the morning.

Bitter foods cleanse the liver and are essential for Spring health. Bitter foods include dandelion greens, radicchio, rapini, endive, kale, rocket (aragula), rye, chamomile, unsweetened cocoa, daikon, and even nettles. A salad of mixed leaves can easily include many bitter herbs.

Replace heavy winter foods with light, quickly-cooked ingredients.

FRIENDSHIP

With the warming weather and longer days, Spring is a great time to reconnect with your support network.

Friends who really listen to you and have your back when the going gets rough are essential for wellness. Having someone you really trust who will hold the space for you to download, discuss, or even rant if you need, helps you stay on top of stress and overwhelm as life gets busier.

SLEEP

Most people don’t get enough sleep without even realising. Some are ‘tired-but-wired’ which makes sleep difficult. For others the messages from the brain that they need sleep are lost because after chronic sleep-shortage their internal sensing system no longer recognises the signal.

Adults need between seven and eight hours sleep every night. Binge sleeping on the weekend doesn’t compensate for lost sleep during the week, or the other way around.

Research has shown sleep quality is directly connected to what you eat through the day. Increasing high fibre foods in the diet was linked to more restorative sleep.

If worry is keeping you awake introduce some strategies to reduce the stress. Crucially, don’t sleep with your cell phone right beside you, and stop using it at least thirty minutes before bedtime.

If your bedroom does not support good sleep use this guide to make changes.

STRESS

Spring is the perfect time to set the intention to manage your stress more effectively.

As we move through Spring towards the end of the year life gets busier and busier. It’s easy to roll along juggling all the balls until you drown in overwhelm without ever realising it’s happening. Don’t end up burnt out by year end.

While planning is important, de-stress techniques are just as important to get on top of your stress and stay there. Use these excellent strategies to reduce and manage the effect of stress on your mind and body in the busy days up to the end of the year.

MINDSET SPRING-CLEAN

When you want to bring the new into your life you have to make space for it. Whether it’s a new Spring wardrobe, new habits or new thought patterns, if you want to create a new you, you need to de-clutter first. For it to become a new habit the first step is to release everything that no longer serves you.

Spring offers a great opportunity to clear our mindset and get rid of thoughts that undermine our self-esteem or are toxic to relationships. Once you clear out toxic thought patterns you can start planting positivity seeds to create a life you love.

Challenge yourself. When old attitudes and thought patterns arise again, try seeing things from a different perspective. Start by watching and noticing whenever you run those same old stories about yourself.

Notice whenever you criticise yourself, when you tell yourself you’re stupid, or ugly, or fat, or any other negative put-downs. Then call it out for what it is. Remember it is not the ‘true you’ thinking this. Remind yourself of your true value, that you’re smart, lovable, beautiful, or whatever applies.

Imagine the ‘negative voice’ in your head as an actual person or character. (I used to think of it as the ‘Control Committee’.) Then replace that negative character with a loving, supportive, friendly character or committee who always has your back. Whenever the negative, judgemental character spits out criticism say to yourself “I see you. You are not the true me.” Then turn to the second loving character for positive, encouraging reinforcement.

Once you call out the limiting beliefs you’ll find they start to run less frequently and hold less potency to undermine you. Reclaim your power with awareness, simply by watching, witnessing and naming.

UPLIFT SPIRIT

While everyone needs time to zone-out, use the energy of Spring to change HOW you recharge.

Instead of crashing in front of reality TV, get smarter. Use the building momentum of this time of new beginnings to read uplifting books, listen to music that benefits your soul, or take an aromatherapy bath. Zone-out for good health and Spring Wellness.

With all the fresh new routines and rituals you’re welcoming into your life be sure to maintain balance. Put a spring in your step, not a drive to the fast lane. Be mindful. Listen to your body. Open to new opportunities. Eat slowly. Live in awareness.

Disclaimer

All information and opinions presented here are for information only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before trying treatment suggested on this site.

© Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health, 2012. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health with appropriate and specific direction to the original content

Conscious Mindset. Stress, Holistic Health & Natural Remedies

21 Ways to Manage Stress

1 Comment

When Stress Becomes Overwhelm

Everyone has a ‘stress threshold’, which is the point where stress becomes overwhelming.  This point is different for each one of us.  But whether you have a low stress threshold or a high one where it takes a major life event to upset your equilibrium, we all experience stress at some time.  And when that happens our bodies react in a similar way.

Stress is all fine if your body turns off the response as the stress subsides.  But when the stress in our lives never stops, or if it’s coming from many directions at once, our brains can no longer balance the stress and relax responses.  And that creates many serious health consequences.  One of these consequences is that our brain stops functioning well, especially when it comes to memory, both laying down new memories and retrieving old memories.

What Stress Looks Like

It can be easy to miss the signs that ongoing stress is becoming a problem because being stressed is not just about worry and anxiety.

Stress shows up in our body and behaviour in many different ways. In your physical body it can show up somatically with symptoms such as headaches, heart palpitations or chest pain, digestive issues, insomnia or back pain. Trying to reverse these symptoms becomes difficult because they are often attributed to other causes rather than stress.

Stress can affect your thinking and manifest in changed behaviours and habits. It can make you feel anxious, depressed, irritated or hopeless. But it can also cause emotional or excessive eating, substance abuse or avoiding going out or seeing friends.

When stress causes anxiety, it doesn’t always look like worry so again, it can be easy to overlook. This is what Anxiety May Look Like.

Managing Stress

Being in a chronic state of stress can be difficult to recognise because it can appear like ‘life as normal’. However, it’s important to take steps to reduce the effects of stress because they can be serious and even dangerous.

If stress has affected your ability to cope and you’re shifting towards overwhelm this video will help with 21 effective ways to manage stress.

Find more about the effects of chronic stress and how to manage it in the Conscious Mindset. Stress category.

Disclaimer

All information and opinions presented here are for information only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before trying treatment suggested on this site.

© Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health, 2012. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health with appropriate and specific direction to the original content

Conscious Mindset. Stress, Holistic Health & Natural Remedies

Magical Magnesium

7 Comments

My sister loves soaking in her big, deep bath because it relieves her tired and aching muscles and helps her sleep better. She knows adding Epsom salts to the bathwater makes it even more effective. But what she doesn’t know is that Epsom salts are rich in the mineral magnesium.

Epsom salts are rich in magnesium, a mineral that can be poorly absorbed when taken internally.

Magnesium Deficiency

Many people suffer from a magnesium deficiency, and this is often because magnesium is poorly absorbed. Magnesium is frequently deficient in our diets. However, soaking in a bath containing Epsom salts is an excellent and relaxing way to replenish your magnesium levels.

Most of the population does not get enough magnesium. In 2000 the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (in USA) found that the deficiency figure was as high as 80% of adults, a figure most likely mirrored here in Australia. This figure is significant because the mineral magnesium plays a part in thousands of functions in your body. Also, magnesium is easily depleted. Problematically, magnesium deficiency is often overlooked because it manifests differently in each individual.

Magnesium Synergy

The mineral magnesium, plays a vital role in building and maintaining good health, working in conjunction with many other nutrients, particularly calcium and Vitamin D.

head-30160_640

Most people know that they need calcium and vitamin D. But the third side of this triangle is perhaps not so widely known. Magnesium also plays a part in this picture, and while magnesium deficiency is quite widespread due to deficient intake, it is frequently not addressed with diet or supplementation in the way that calcium is.

The Magic Triangle: Magnesium, Calcium, Vitamin D

Magnesium, calcium and vitamin D work in unison in the body. All three require the others to do their job, and it doesn’t matter if you are getting adequate amounts of one of them, without the others it will not be able to do its job. Which means taking calcium supplements without sufficient magnesium is not much use. Your body needs about twice as much calcium as magnesium, but many people actually have much, much more calcium and many times less magnesium.

Magnesium is the fourth most abundant element in your body. It helps to regulate over three hundred enzymes. It also plays a vital role in muscle control and sending electrical impulses along the nerves. Magnesium contributes to energy production and also assists in the elimination of toxins.

Many common diseases of our modern life can be rooted in a magnesium deficiency. It can lead to heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, arthritis and joint pain, digestive disorders, chronic fatigue, or illnesses resulting from stress. Long term chronic magnesium deficiency damage can even be fatal.

When we talk of muscles everyone usually thinks of those in the legs or back, and most people have experienced muscle cramps at some time, often in the legs or feet. But how many think of their heart as also being a muscle? Low magnesium levels can affect the efficient working of your heart, in the same way that they can lead to cramping of your leg muscles.

Magnesium Deficiency Symptoms

Early symptoms of magnesium deficiency:
  • Restlessness
  • Muscle cramps, tremors & twitches
  • Restless or fidgety legs
  • Pain in the feet
Other indicators of a possible magnesium deficiency:
  • Migraines, cluster headaches 
  • Anxiety, stress & panic attacks
  • Fatigue, sluggishness. People with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome often also eat a magnesium deficient diet.
  • Poor sleep & waking up tired – difficulty falling asleep or waking with muscle stiffness
  • Low energy levels
  • High blood pressure & cholesterol levels
  • Period pain & PMS: Deficiency can also lead to infertility and pregnancy problems
  • Nervousness: Heightened sensitivity to external stimuli like lights and noise, with exaggerated emotions
  • Irritability of the nervous system: Depression, restlessness, psychiatric conditions including bipolar and epilepsy.
  • Kidney stones
  • Poor memory & confusion
  • Calcium or potassium deficiency
  • Autism spectrum, ADD/ADHD, other neurological conditions

Magnesium Rich Foods

Good food sources of magnesium are whole grains and green leafy vegetables, as well as legumes and nuts. Although grains and seeds are normally rich sources of magnesium, processing destroys or removes it. Therefore, there are very low levels, or often no magnesium at all in processed foods like white flour, white rice and foods made from them. Processing strips away the parts of the plant containing magnesium and heating destroys it. Magnesium rich foods only deliver the benefits if they are not processed.

Because modern farming practices lead to magnesium deficient soils crops grown in those soils also contain very low levels of magnesium. Foods that should be rich in magnesium no longer are.

Magnesium Drainers

On top of the problem with magnesium deficient foods, our food choices, habits and lifestyle can impact magnesium levels within our bodies.

Hardly surprisingly our western diet, which is high in processed breads, pasta, cereal, biscuits, sugar and more contributes to deficiency. This is not just because these foods are themselves often low in magnesium, many also affect the way we metabolise magnesium. Sweet foods for instance, require more magnesium to break them down. Other foods increase the loss of magnesium in urine. while others bind the magnesium so it can’t be absorbed.

Lifestyle habits such as intense exercise or stress deplete magnesium levels. Certain health conditions including coeliac disease and Type II Diabetes also impact magnesium absorption and excretion.

With so many things to deplete magnesium in the body it’s no surprise that so many have low levels.

  • Sugars, fats, salt and proteins in our diet all deplete magnesium.
  • Diuretics, such as caffeine, with even just one coffee a day, can cause it.
  • Alcohol is another form of diuretic, and weekend binge drinking could result in your body dumping a load of magnesium.
  • Medications for blood pressure, diuretics, metformin, some antibiotics, long term PPIs and laxatives all deplete magnesium.
  • Chronic low-grade stress causes magnesium deficiency

If you recognise yourself in any of these scenarios have your magnesium levels checked with a view to adding a supplement.

Even if your diet is really well balanced, you may still need a magnesium supplement. Choose magnesium supplements in the form of magnesium citrate because it’s better absorbed.

Magnesium Supplements

There are a few ways to increase your magnesium levels. You can start with increasing the amount of magnesium rich foods you eat. Nuts especially almonds and cashews, pumpkin seeds, legumes, quinoa, dark leafy vegetables such as spinach, avocados, green peas and potatoes, fibre-rich whole grains and 30gm of dark chocolate are all magnesium top picks.

But if testing shows your magnesium levels are low you’ll need more. Tablet or capsule supplements are the sure way to deliver a measured dose to restore optimum levels in the body.

One way to maintain healthy levels is to apply magnesium oil (magnesium chloride) or gel to your skin.

Epsom Salt Bath

While ingesting Epsom salts causes side effects an Epsom salt bath is a relaxing way to get the health benefits of magnesium and reduce stress at the same time. Studies are limited but show that after regular bathing in the magnesium-rich Epsom salts levels increased in the body. Bathing in Epsom salts bypasses problems with poor absorption of supplements in the gut.

Photo credit: Monica Arellano-Ongpin

Add about 1-2 cups of Epsom Salts to the tub. Dissolve them in hot water first and then fill the tub about half full with water as warm as you can tolerate. The warmer the water and the bigger the tub, the more salt will dissolve.

If you suffer from chronic deficiency start with just a tablespoon of salt and work your way up to the full amount to avoid any negative reactions. Soak for about twenty minutes. You can leave the salt to dry on your skin or rinse it off. But don’t drink the water!

If you don’t have a big tub, use a foot bath instead. Mix 1 part salt to 2 or more parts water and soak for 20-30 minutes.

‘Lectric Soda

Just a quick warning note about Epsom Salt. ‘Lectric Soda’, found on supermarket shelves is not Epsom salts. It is made from limestone (calcium carbonate) processed with sodium chloride. Epsom Salts are magnesium sulphate.  Look for the real deal.

Epsom Salts in the Garden

If you’re a gardener, you may already know that Epsom salt is magic in your garden. It helps seeds germinate, makes plants grow bushier, produces more flowers, increases chlorophyll production and deters pests, such as slugs. It also provides vital nutrients to supplement your regular fertilizer (or compost!).

The health benefits of magnesium are extensive for both people and plants. It’s essential to consider your magnesium status and make any changes needed for your wellness.

Disclaimer.

All information and opinions presented here are for information only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before trying treatment suggested on this site.

© Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health, 2012. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health with appropriate and specific direction to the original content

Source articles

http://www.ancient-minerals.com/magnesium-sources/dietary/

The Magnesium Factor, Seelig, Mildred. 2003

Conscious Mindset. Stress

Conquer Your Fear

Leave a comment

“When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

We all have fears but often they block our way, distorting our understanding of a situation and clouding our ability to make wise life decisions. Fear locks us down, holding us back from seizing the day.

Whilst our fears are often deeply embedded in our psyche, they can be overcome, freeing us to boldly take the next step towards creating a meaningful life of purpose.

Even though we’d always prefer not to feel it, fear is a very useful emotion.  It kept our cave-dwelling ancestors one step ahead of Saber-Tooth Tiger attacks for example.  But today, most of our fears come from within; fear of rejection, fear of abandonment, fear of failure, or the fear of not measuring up.

Feeling fear is uncomfortable so to avoid that feeling we play it safe.  But playing it safe means staying within our comfort zone.  The thing is, a lot of what we want from life, the things that make us feel most alive, exist outside our comfort zone.   Since what we want is beyond our comfort zone AND our fear strives to keep us inside that zone, we’re left with a real dilemma.

We can’t make progress with one foot on the brake and the other on the accelerator.  We have to choose and commit to one or the other.

Living your life to the fullest means trying new things, meeting new people, and taking calculated risks.  So the question becomes, “How do we overcome our fear so we can do that?”

Fear is a warning sign of what MIGHT happen.  Just because we can imagine all the dangers and potential pitfalls of an activity, doesn’t mean they will actually eventuate. Even though we may know this we often fail to act appropriately.

However, the beauty here is that if the source of our fears comes from within, so too does the solution to overcoming them.

You have the power to face and overcome your fears.  So, fear not!

Building Courage

When we’re dealing with the debilitating effect of fear it’s important to remember that the default position our thoughts take is to sabotage us.   Our thought patterns are adversely altered by fear, which makes it harder to make a rational decision in uncertain or challenging situations.

Our brain’s biases mean we often amplify the potential negative consequences of taking action while at the same time we downplay any possible positives.  Therefore, it is vital to remain constantly aware of this skewed perspective and not allow it to influence our actions.

3 Steps to Conquer Fear

With this in mind let’s look at ways to conquer the fear that’s holding you back.

Our natural urge is to turn away from the discomfort of fear but the first step in overcoming your fears involves facing them head on.

We’re afraid of things we can’t see.  When you hear a noise in the middle of the night you turn on a light to see what it is.  In the same way the first step to overcoming your fear is by shining a light on it, observing it and acknowledging it.  It’s easier to rise above something when you know exactly what you’re up against.  You often find it’s not as bad as you initially feared.  But you’ll never know until you look!

Observe and Acknowledge

It’s time now to focus and take action by putting your fears into the spotlight and making yourself a ‘Fear List’.  Take a sheet of paper and draw three columns.  Label the first column Define, the next Reframe and the third Support.

Don’t use your smartphone or other device for this exercise, do it the old way. Science has shown handwriting has a significant neurological advantage over typing. It’s a potent brain exercise with a wide range of cognitive benefits including helping to work through complex problems.

Define

Consider what scares you.  We’re not talking about your fear of snakes or confined spaces here, but rather the things you are afraid to do. This might look like talking to your spouse about finances, quitting your job, standing your ground with in-laws, starting a business, or many others.

List these in the first column under Define.  Include all your doubts, the worst-case scenarios you can imagine and any problems that you think might arise.

You could frame them in this way for an effective understanding of the issue:

I want to______ and I scare myself by imagining____.

For example:

I want to talk to my spouse about our finances and I scare myself by imagining they will get defensive about our spending habits, and it will end in an argument.

OR:

I want to build a successful business, and I scare myself by imagining I don’t have what it takes, I won’t be able to get clients and I won’t earn enough money so I’ll be unable to pay the mortgage and will then lose my house.

This exercise reveals how your fears are created by imagining the negative ‘what if’s’ and how your thoughts can quickly escalate them out of proportion.

Change the Narrative

The next step to transforming that negative into a positive is to create a powerful narrative that supports you to draw on your inner courage and strength to take control and overcome your fear.

Reframe

Turn to the second column Reframe and use this column to reframe the fears you identified and defined.

Use this statement to rework your fear and add your new statements to the second column:

Instead of scaring myself by imagining____ I will focus my energy/work hard to ____.

For example:

Instead of scaring myself by imagining that my spouse and I will argue over finances, I will investigate what might be some shared common goals for our savings and investments.

OR:

Instead of scaring myself by imagining that my business will fail and I won’t be able to pay my bills and will lose my house, I will do the background market research, learn the skills and diligently apply the effort to create my successful business.

By flipping the fear into a compelling positive and conscious vision, it makes it much less scary to move past our fears.

Silencing, suppressing, or denying your fear in any way gives it strength.  But by shining a light on our fears and identifying and reframing them they begin to lose the power they have over us.

Plan of Action

This is your chance to brainstorm practices and strategies that could support you to overcome your fears.

Support

The third column is for investigating ways to support yourself through the challenge and prevent the worst-case scenarios from occurring.

For each fear you listed explore ways you could behave to make the challenge easier or actions you could take to prepare yourself before facing the fear.

This might look like:

When I speak with my spouse about finances, I will choose a time when we both feel relaxed, I’ll use words that are not confrontational and when I feel challenged I will take a few deep breaths before responding.

OR:

Before I start my business I will seek advice from a financial advisor about how I can restructure my current financial obligations to relieve some of the pressure.

OR:

If I find myself in trouble later as a result of this decision, I can draw on my ability to freelance or I can work a few hours in a second part-time job until I move past the challenge.

In the Support column you could also add contacts you can reach out to. Include practices to adopt which relieve the stress caused by fear such as meditation which helps you gain greater clarity about the situation. List professional courses or practitioners who could support you.

The Breath of Fire Meditation is a powerful supporting practice to break the grip fear holds over you.

A New Trajectory

Once you have finished your columns you may be surprised to discover that your worst-case fear is not as devastating as you had believed it to be. This realisation will allow you to look forward positively.

Take a fresh sheet of paper.  On this sheet begin to record what might go well if you overcome your fear and move forward.

This might look like:

Instead of imagining my spouse and I will argue over finances, by working together we could start saving for a house or take a longed-for trip overseas.

OR:  

By starting my own business armed with the knowledge and resources I need, I could discover I love going to work each day instead of dreading it. Plus, I will be able to take control of managing my time so I can spend more time with my family.

Consequences

And now take one last sheet of paper and on this list all the consequences of NOT taking action.  

This may look like feeling stuck in a terrible job where you can’t grow; not having an open relationship with your spouse and feeling resentful; never owning your own home; not discovering a new hobby or activity you love and are great at; or even losing friends who have offended you.

Consider the impact over one year, five years and ten years. Include any potential emotional, financial and physical costs as well as the effect it will have on realising your dreams. You can alter this time frame if it doesn’t fit your situation.  For example, one week, six weeks and three months might be more appropriate.

Completing all these steps will help you move above your limiting thoughts and present clear reasons for or against pressing on in spite of the underlying fear.

Of course, learning to overcome fear is easier said than done.  When you’re gripped by fear it’s hard to see an escape hatch.  But, since your fear comes from within, you always hold the key to that escape hatch.   When you turn that key, you release your fears.

Apply these tactics to overcoming your fears to keep moving forward.   Your dreams depend on it!

Disclaimer

All information and opinions presented here are for information only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before trying treatment suggested on this site.

© Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health, 2012. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health with appropriate and specific direction to the original content

Conscious Mindset. Stress, Meditation & Mindfulness

Breath Of Fire Meditation For Courage

1 Comment

With so much going on in the world life can feel overwhelming.

The powerful Breath of Fire technique enables you to connect with the courage of your soul. It’s a simple form of breath work which alters your energetic state by amplifying the electrical currents in your body.

This breathing technique supports you to stay grounded in the moment even when you’re surrounded by chaos and drama. It helps keep you really stable so you can remain completely present, with a clear mind, balanced emotions, calm body and a positive spirit.

Breath Of Fire is a truly potent tool that’s simple to do anywhere and everywhere. You can use this meditation and the associated affirmation that goes with it anytime. Use this tool in your daily life whenever you need to generate or access your courage, or when you need to build your energy in order to face a situation where you feel challenged, uncertain or fearful.

The Breath Of Fire helps you stay outside perceptions of fear and worry about what’s going on around you. When you’re not being drawn into other people’s emotional drama you can start to see and understand what’s happening with greater clarity.

Standing outside the drama, you can heighten your awareness to notice what’s really going on rather than what you think or imagine is going on. With clear vision and detachment from the turbulence, you can focus and observe just what it is that you actually do notice, without getting caught up in all the emotional drama.

Let’s Get Started

First get comfortable. Find a place where you won’t be disturbed. Close the door and turn off your phone. It’s fine to sit or stand or even kneel for this meditation just as long as your spine is straight and your ribcage is slightly lifted.

During the meditation if you feel the need to move while you do this, go ahead and move.  If you notice any emotions coming to the surface, allow them to rise and move away. They are all a part of the process, a part of accessing and embracing your courage.

The meditation starts out slowly to help you generate the pattern and the rhythm of the breath. With this technique you breathe with a series of short intakes of air, rather like strong sniffs. I’ll walk you through the technique first so you can set up the rhythm of it and become familiar with the cycle. Then I’ll leave you to navigate the breathing at your own pace.

If you need longer to practice the technique pause the recording until you feel comfortable to move forward. Once you’re familiar with the technique continue on at your own pace as the music builds up. Then take your attention inward and allow the breath to take care of itself.

It’s fine to continue on with the breathing after the recording finishes for as long as you need until you feel a sense of empowerment. You may need longer during more stressful times or situations.

Disclaimer

All information and opinions presented here are for information only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before trying treatment suggested on this site.

© Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health, 2012. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health with appropriate and specific direction to the original content

Conscious Mindset. Stress, Self Care

Learn To Love Yourself Unconditionally

Leave a comment

“When I loved myself enough, I began leaving everything that wasn’t healthy. This meant people, jobs, my own beliefs and habits – anything that kept me small. My judgement called it disloyal. Now I see it as self-loving.”   
~ Kim McMillen

Most of us are so busy waiting for someone to love us that we’ve forgotten about the one person we need to love first—ourselves. While we’re caught up looking for love from a partner we miss out on receiving love from the one person who has the most amazing love to give. That is the person who stares back at us from the mirror. However, you can learn to love yourself unconditionally.

Falling in love with yourself does not have to be loaded with guilt. It’s not selfish when we do it with appreciation. And best of all we discover a source of love that never runs out.

It’s often said that we “can’t expect others to love us if we don’t love ourselves first”. While this is true to an extent it’s not the whole picture. Because the reality is, others DO love us even when we don’t love our self. They see the beauty within us even when we can’t.

When we don’t show our self genuine love we can very quickly find we’re caught in a cycle of negativity. Lack of self-confidence, insecurity, jealousy and self-loathing feed off each other and escalate our unhappiness. If we continue in this pattern we begin to push others away. This perpetuates our belief that we are not worthy of love, and reinforces our self-dislike.

Conversely, when we love our self and treat our self with kindness and respect, we always have someone around who sends us love. We feel more confident, positive, and secure. We draw others to us and we receive even more love from them also.

How To Love Yourself

So how do you start falling in love with yourself? The whole idea of turning this concept into a process may seem a bit ridiculous. However, it’s not really so silly.  Engaging in a process of introspection and appreciation makes the process very possible.

When you fall in love with someone else the romance follows a few steps. You can follow these same steps to fall in love with yourself.

Your First Meeting

Your quest for love begins when you meet an interesting person.

Similarly, the first step to loving yourself is to meet YOU. Close your eyes and take a few deep belly-breaths. When you feel relaxed turn your attention within.

Without any judgement consider what you are really like? What do you like to do, to eat, to play, your interests, and your passions? What are your accomplishments? What is good about you? Don’t be critical. Recognise what’s interesting and unique about you.

If you are struggling to find positive qualities within think about the qualities you admire in others. These qualities, talents or gifts you admire are a reflection of qualities that are also present within you. We admire them in others but often we cannot recognise them in ourselves.

Getting To Know Yourself

After meeting somebody new you get to know them.

If you don’t know the answer to some of these questions about yourself watch yourself carefully over the next week. Bring your awareness on board to explore what’s great about you. Look within to discover what your desires and dreams, your strengths, weaknesses and fears are.

Once you get to know these aspects better you can begin to appreciate the little things.

Your task is not to seek for Love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.
~ Rumi

Loving Your Shadow

Often we are loathe to accept our self entirely. We reject certain things about our self that we deem unacceptable or bad and often hide these characteristics and behaviour from others.

But we can never love our self if we only accept the “nicer” parts of us. Self-love is the result of recognising, accepting and integrating every part of us, the light and the shadow.

A big problem with repressing parts of our self is that dark aspects can sabotage us. When they are not integrated within our wholeness they are very limiting.

Anger, frustration, jealousy, selfishness, bossiness, manipulation, bitchiness, and greed are all aspects we’re taught we must overcome. But they are all as much a part of us as generosity, selflessness and loyalty. And over your lifetime your shadow aspects have ALL played an important role in your self-care and protection. Every shadow aspect that resonates with you or that you strongly reject has contributed to building your strength today.

Inner Shadow Aspects

When we recognise, acknowledge and integrate a ‘selfish shadow’ it supports us to practise self-care. It allows us to ask for what we want as well as to not give more than we can.

An ‘inner bitch’ shadow provides the strength to step forward from a place of personal power to create healthy boundaries. It allows you to ask for what you want, need and deserve without feeling manipulative or mean.

Once you integrate ‘inner victims’ within your whole you become more empathetic and appreciative of others who suffer. Once it is fully integrated you easily shift to being able to better help and heal others.

The ‘inner greedy person’ causes you to give more and more value or support, never feeling you’ve provided enough. But when integrated it amplifies your ability to give to others as well as to receive. It tells you when you really need to ask for more, and reminds you it’s ok that your needs are also met.

Very often we don’t recognise the good and the benefit that our shadow characteristics bring. We overlook that they help make us a complete person. When we acknowledge and integrate them they support us to build happiness and fulfillment in our life.

Know Yourself Completely

Take some time to get to know your whole self.

Find a quiet space. Turn off the phone and close the door. Close your eyes and take a few deep relaxing breaths. Then call out your inner shadow, whichever it may be. Ask it how it has made you stronger.  Ask it what it needs from you in order to be healed, heard, appreciated and valued. You may be surprised at the answer. But trust that this is your deep inner knowledge and wisdom directing you.

Ask what you need to do right now to move forward. If the answer is vague like “love yourself more” ask for specifics such as “how would it look if I were more loving to myself”?

It can be scary to start integrating your shadow aspects. But if you allow them to move forward they will guide you and support you to greater self-care and self-love. While you repress shadow aspects they suck your power and control you with judgement and criticism. Once you integrate them the resistance they once created disappears and they become your allies.

It becomes far easier to love yourself when you’re not beating yourself up for not being “perfectly good”. Such a thing does not, and cannot exist. There can be no light without dark, no day without night, no good without bad. And there can be no self-love without acceptance of our WHOLE self, both the light and the shadow.

Once you begin to trust and appreciate ALL of you within, you’ll come to appreciate that person is worth every gram of your love.

Dig Deeper

While becoming aware of ALL of you, the light and the shadow, is a great way to start loving yourself it is only the beginning. You need to do a little more to love yourself completely.

Once you get to know the awesome person within and appreciate all their wonderful characteristics it’s time to build trust. This person won’t abandon you or hurt you. They will always be there for you. Building trust can take time, but if you begin to trust a little you’ll see it’s warranted, and you can then trust a bit more.

Give yourself love, just as much as you would to someone else – a lover, child, parent or sibling or even a BF. You have great love to give and you are worthy of your love.

Perform loving acts such as hugging yourself to remind yourself of your love. Every day remember to tell yourself that you love YOU and remind yourself how strong and beautiful you are.

These steps can take a little time but are very important.

Ask yourself:

  • “What is the first thing I need to do right now to move forward?” and
  • “How can I shower myself with all my love today? Can you identify three different ways to achieve this?

Making the decision to love yourself for who you are is a gift that you are also giving to everyone around you.

love and value yourself

Disclaimer

All information and opinions presented here are for information only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before trying treatment suggested on this site.

© Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health, 2012. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Nature's Rhythms, Uncategorized

Healing Through Nature

Leave a comment

When we’re surrounded by the healing energy of certain outdoor locations we heal from the inside.

The Lessons of Nature

Oceans

Waves remind us that the Earth and the Universe is filled with reliable patterns. This includes the pattern of our breath.  Also, the negative ions in the air around fast-moving water actually positively change brain waves.

Forests

Forests remind us of our relationships. We are surrounded by tree families. Their canopies protect and shelter us as do those in our life.  Our connections with others support us through the challenges of life.  And remember, keep hugging trees to connect with the energies that flow through the Earth.

Rocks

The solidity, stability and endurance of rocks remind us that growth and change can be microscopic and yet result in something solid. Rocks encourage us to cultivate patience.

Waterfalls

Falling water speaks of constancy and power. We are reminded that our power and integrity is carried within.  Reclaim any power you have relinquished to others.  Also, the negative ions in the air around waterfalls reduce inflammation in our cells and feed wellness.

Gardens

The garden surrounds us with abundance and beauty as we cultivate. In the garden our hands touch growing things, the vigourous shoots, the tiny buds, the perfumed flowers, and our hearts fill.  It reminds us of the need to nurture, nourish and remove the ‘weeds’ around what we value in our life if we are to flourish.

Top of Hills

Hilltops remind us of the importance of an objective overview. Overlooking the world, we see tiny cars and towns, animals and people going about their life, and we gain perspective as we watch with an eagle’s eye the magnificent choreography of life.  Deeply breathe in the fresh air.

Rivers

Watching the water of the river glide past we are reminded to stay flexible and open to change and to be prepared to adapt as our surroundings and circumstances change.

Vast Open Plains

Surrounded by sparse vegetation and vast open space, we gaze upwards in awe at the expansiveness and abundance of the universe above.  As we merge with the vastness of the heavens we are reminded that we are an integral part of the ALL and a spark of Source Energy.

Mountains

The massive mountain towers above us, reaching for the heavens and giving testament to the strength that comes from endurance.  We are reminded that time is merely a construct and that while we can be beaten and worn by the winds of change, we can always draw on our inner strength to withstand any onslaught.  Remain solid and true within your core, your heart.

Limestone Caves

Nestled and protected deep within the dark Earth these secret areas of immense beauty remind us that our true beauty lies within. However, it is our responsibility to open ourselves and allow our beauty and light to shine out for the benefit of all.

Natural Springs

The bubbling exuberance of a fresh natural spring teaches us that new beginnings and opportunities are always available to us. But the gifts of the Universe don’t just arrive unasked. We must make the conscious choice and ask in order to manifest anything in our outer world.

Change of Seasons

As we notice the energy starting to shift from the dormancy of Winter, through Spring’s exuberant new growth, Summer’s lush fruitfulness, the abundant harvest and retraction of growth of Autumn, and then the return to the quiet stillness of Winter, we connect with the greater Universal Cycles and Rhythms. 

Our life and health flow when we are aligned with the natural cycles.

Disclaimer

All information and opinions presented here are for information only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before trying treatment suggested on this site.

© Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health, 2012. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Catherine Bullard and Happy Holistic Health with appropriate and specific direction to the original content

Holistic Wellness: Where Mind, Body, and Soul Align.