‘Tis a Gift to Receive
Posted by Jana | Filed under Manifesting, Transformation
We’ve all heard the saying, “It’s better to give then receive.” But in the manifesting process, both giving and receiving are attributes of the process, called the Law of Reciprocity. When manifesting or creating something new, the Universe often sends unexpected ideas or resources to support the request. However, these subtle messages can be missed if there are expectations of how, when, or where the answers are supposed to appear and your ability to receive help. Do you reject the help you’re offered without even realizing it?
For most of us it’s easier to give than receive, but without discovering and building receiving muscles, the manifesting process is limited or fails. Learning to receive can be a challenge. The world will abundantly give to all of us! So how do you build your receiving muscles.
When the cosmos sends you help, how do you respond?
Do you feel guilty or anxious when someone offers to help or gives you a compliment?
Do you feel you’re weak or incapable if you accept help that’s offered to you?
Do you feel you deserve what you’re being offered?
Do you fear what others will think of you if you accept help?
How you feel about yourself is an indicator of how willing you are to receive. You may have been taught that you need to do everything on your own to prove you’re strong and capable. But guess what, the people who are the strongest are the ones who allow others to help them and be a part of the process. We all have different gifts and talents, and as we work together we draw from one another’s talents to make the bigger picture work for all of us. There is no competition or finish line. The world continuously expands to support all of our dreams, especially when we learn to work together to help everyone get what they want.
A few years back I read a great book about learning to receive called Things Will Get As Good As You Can Stand by Laura Doyle. She artfully provides simple ideas to build your ability to receive and learning about the reciprocal nature of the process. You can check out her book on the “I Recommend” widget on the right hand side of my blog.
Ask for what you want! Many people are fearful of even asking for what they really want. Perhaps the fear stems from being disappointed or rejected if they ask for something. Fears alter a person’s belief system. The beliefs, or programming, change a person’s behavior, resulting in limiting the ability to manifest.
Another way of getting into receive mode is to practice conscious daily giving. I know that’s just what you wanted to hear – give more so I can receive. But there is a difference in consciously giving and being in receiving mode. A year ago I was introduced to Cami Walker’s website 29Gifts.org. Cami talks about the daily health challenges she faces and how her life shifted as a result of consciously giving a daily gift for 29 days. She has done this for over a year now and published a book about her journey. As a result her health has improved, her business has improved, and her relationships have improved. All of this from consciously giving simple gifts each day for 29 consecutive days. The key here is the “consecutive days of giving”, if you miss a day, you start over.
The momentum that is created by giving daily is amazing! The gifts are something you value – giving a client an extra half hour of your time, a phone call to someone in need, helping someone out unexpectedly, or whatever you decide. The key here is the gift must be conscious, not an afterthought.
The Law of Reciprocity definitely kicks in as a result of daily giving. After experimenting with daily giving, I too can validate amazing results of receiving gifts and shifting the flow of my energy! Are you feeling tapped out because you are constantly giving, but feeling like nothing is reciprocated? Look into your feelings and beliefs about receiving. Learn to shift your ability to receive by accepting little gifts such as doors being opened for you, a kind smile, someone offering their seat to you, or whatever the gesture. Graciously accept and say, “thank you” for the gesture. By accepting little things you’ll build your receiving muscle and open yourself up to receiving more and more. Learning to receive take practice and effort.
How Much Does Baggage Really Cost?
Posted by Jana | Filed under Manifesting, Transformation
Have you ever wondered what the cost is of the baggage you’re carrying around? You know the baggage, the emotional stuff you’re holding on to. Most airlines are charging more for the baggage they carry. Do you wish you got paid extra for holding onto your emotional stuff? If you’re not getting paid extra for it, then what is your emotional baggage really costing you?
How does emotional baggage influence your relationships, your career/business, your money, your health, where you live, or how you live? Emotional baggage affects everything!
Emotional baggage influences perceptions. Our perceptions are filters through which we process all information. This is why when two people view the same incident their reports of the situation can be very different. We all perceive life differently. Someone may see a situation as an adventurous growth experience, while someone else sees it as a devastating one.
One of the key components of emotional baggage is fear. When we have an unpleasant emotional experience, the intention is to never feel that way again, right? So the emotion is held onto as a reminder to avoid situations that cause similar feelings. Unfortunately the fear of never wanting to feel the same way, projects a message into the cosmos. The Universe sends a message back to match the message sent out. Like attracts like, even if it isn’t what you wish to attract.
Fear causes people to stay in unhealthy relationships or avoid relationships altogether. It is a motive for staying in an unfulfilling career, instead of pursuing your passion. It affects your spending or saving habits based on perceptions of scarcity. It influences your health by affecting your energy’s natural flow and rhythm.
If you’re not getting the results you want, are you willing the change? Here are some ideas to help you eliminate emotional baggage:
1) Take note on areas in your life where you are frustrated or unhappy. What would you change? What emotions cause you to feel frustrated or unhappy in this area – i.e. feeling unappreciated, unloved, inadequate, disrespected, unworthy or anything else you feel.
2) Notice how your thoughts and emotions contribute to your current results. Are your thoughts supporting the existing pattern or what you wish to create? Ask yourself why you respond in a particular way. Shift your thoughts toward what you want to create – I am appreciated; I am lovable; I am worthy; I am respected.
3) Speak your truth – communicate your feelings with the person causing your frustration or unhappiness. They will validate your feelings and work with you to change the situation or they will discount them. Either way you are communicating what is or isn’t working for you. If it isn’t possible to work with the person directly, write about it expressing your feelings.
4) Visualize yourself releasing any emotions, and see youself receiving what you want such as unappreciated with appreciated; inadequate with flourishing; unworthy with deserving, etc. What does it feel like to you to be appreciated? What does it feel like to you to be respected? See yourself receiving and feeling positive emotions and feedback. You can also perform a ritual where you write what you want to release on a piece of paper and burn it. Make sure you replace it with what you want.
5) Express gratitude to your teachers. The people who push our buttons are the ones helping us grow. Journal your frustrations and feelings about a situation or person and then express gratitude for their actions helping you understand your emotions better.
Imagine living a life of emotional freedom. Practice releasing emotional baggage through the above steps. Learn to verbalize your emotions as soon as the situation occurs, and then let it go. By no longer dwelling on the feelings, they simply float away and no longer weigh you down.
Is the emotional stuff worth holding on to? Are you ready to let it go?
Release Responsibility, Release the Weight
Posted by Jana | Filed under Transformation
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
How often do we go through life holding onto stuff? For those of you who have read the few posts on “transformation,” you’ve probably wondered what happened. Well there really hasn’t been much to report. I’ve healed the adrenal glands and slight hormone imbalance, and still nothing has affected my weight. Then a few weeks ago something changed.
While in a craniosacral session, the practitioner was holding her hands over my solar plexus. She was asking questions about what I was feeling, colors I saw, or words I heard. The image of me in a “bounce” house popped into my head. It was almost like a cartoon where each time I bounced, I saw blobs of stuff being bounced out of that area of my body. The word “responsibility” kept repeating itself continuously.
Wow, I really had to think about this. Was I really taking on responsibility for stuff that wasn’t mine? I’ve known for some time that I was holding onto emotions which in turn caused me to hold onto the excess weight, but for so long I haven’t been able to see what the emotions were until that day. By observing the scene during this session, I began to see how much responsibility I’ve take on that isn’t even mine!
After that experience, I asked myself daily, “Where am I taking unnecessary responsibility on in my life?” I began to notice the feeling in my solar plexus when I would attempt to take on responsibility. I also began to understand the correlation between responsibility and protection. To some of you this may sound silly, but we hold onto weight for many different reasons; and protection is a very typical reason.
For the next few weeks I began to observe my everyday life and how I take responsibility and “protect” myself by packing on a few extra pounds. I noticed that I take too much responsibility for my daughters, husband, pets, friends and clients. By holding on to my belief that I am responsible, I am mistrusting the Universe and denying its ability to provide perfect solutions.
The interesting thing is that the people whom I’m holding this energy for probably don’t even realize it. It has been a big “ah-ha” moment for me.
After seeing my belief clearly, I have been diligently working on returning responsibility to my kids, husband, friends, and clients. Each day I’m provided with opportunities to take on responsibility or decline it. Through my awareness I could actually sense when I was trying to take on responsibility by feeling “heaviness” in the solar plexus. Since my awareness about this belief has shifted the weight began to drop off.
I love the quote above, and practice taking on only what I need to and allowing the Universe to do the rest. I continuously ask for the courage to change what is within my reach, and the serenity to let go of everything else.
What are you holding onto?
How are you protecting yourself?
Pluto Shifts
Posted by Jana | Filed under Manifesting, Transformation
Are you feeling the effects of Pluto yet? Even though it is no longer considered a planet, it still has an energetic effect upon us. Pluto’s subtle shift may not be immediately evident, but in the coming months suppressed feelings, secrets, and unexpressed desires are likely to surface.
Friday morning I woke up feeling an overwhelming emotional intensity. I wasn’t really sure where it was coming from. While investigating the astrological energy of September 11th, I read about Pluto and it all made sense.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been doing some deep emotional releasing. I’ve been releasing original wounding for this or any other lifetime related to abandonment, abuse, betrayal, denial, and rejection. Also, I’ve been healing and activating the energy of the 8th chakra, the Soul Star, which houses the soul and holds karmic residue from other lifetimes. That’s a whole heap of stuff to move out since our energy is infinite.
When initiating such deep emotional releasing, I never know what to expect. Many times the wounding comes and goes without an understanding of the source of emotional drama or attachment to the pain. But this time the release has been intense. I’m not feeling the actual emotional distress I’m feeling a deep sense of injustice, not only for myself but on a collective consciousness level. My heart hurts for all injustices that have occurred in our world for centuries and centuries. And although we believe we have evolved so much, there are still so many that suffer from injustices today. It is sometimes difficult to truly believe in a higher power when we experience, see, or hear of unfairness.
After expressing my feelings and emotions in my journal, I asked my guides, Mother Mary, and Archangel Rafael to heal this wave of emotion and sense of injustice for myself and others. Even if the injustice isn’t directly related to me, seeing or hearing about it causes grief. How long have I been housing it? Only Divine Source knows the answer to that one. What a relief to feel and release this burden. Although difficult to face, I’m deeply grateful that it has come up and on its way out!
Are you ready to release suppressed feelings, secrets, and unexpressed desires? With Pluto’s help, it’s a perfect time to “let go” and lighten your load.
Journaling
Posted by Jana | Filed under Manifesting, Transformation
It’s been a year ago this week that my hubby Jason and I each won the Bill Phillips Transformational Challenge. We took on the challenge after meeting Bill at a Mark Victor Hansen Mega Book Marketing event in LA. I really had high hopes of reaching my ideal body weight during that time frame. Although I didn’t exactly meet my physical goals, I recently looked back over my journal and realize what an important part journaling played in seeing results.
At times it is difficult to see progress because it can be so subtle. How often do we overlook the little things and simply grind away at the end result? Do we see the challenges we’ve overcome? Do we see the lessons we’ve learned? It becomes easy to mow over the little successes and feel no closer to the goal. The journey is just as important as the end result.
After reading over my journal from the 12-week challenge, I see big differences in my life from last year to this one. Until I read it, it was difficult to see where I’ve come from and how much I really have achieved. We all want big results, but results come at a rate we can handle. There are shifts that transpire in the physical, emotional and mental aspects of the body before we begin manifesting the ultimate results. Depending on the goal this may take a few days or a few years.
Journaling can sometimes be a burden. My 12-Week journal often times had only a couple of sentences for the day. But in looking over it, I see challenges that I faced that I’ve now overcome. I see goals that I set and accomplished. I see progress! It’s a tangible way to measure success.
For any of you who are working on goals, no matter how daunting the process may be, I encourage you to set the goal and journal about it each day. The entries can be as long or short as you want. It’s easy to write about the good things that happen. But in looking over my journal, I realize how important it was to see the frustrations as well.
Cravings
Posted by Jana | Filed under Transformation
For the past several years I’ve been craving something, but didn’t know what it was. Food was used as a means to satisfy the cravings, and as a result, the numbers on the scale have increased. Wanting the weight gain cycle to stop, I knew I needed to eat less and exercise consistently to drop body fat.
Although I was trying to do the right thing, I felt undisciplined or weak because the weight gain continued. It’s been difficult to stay motivated. Because my energy level was so low, I met with a naturopath to find out what was going on.
After learning that my adrenal glands were imbalanced, I’ve been on a path of discovery to understand the emotional dis-ease that caused them to be imbalanced. Through meeting with a naturopath, a homeopath, and my own introspection, I’ve learned the adrenal glands are emotionally tied to flight or fight responses, as well as, feeling that a wrong turn has been taken or feelings of being on the wrong path. I’ll admit that I’ve questioned some of my decisions. It’s easy to look at a decision after it’s made and see it differently once there is more information. As they say, “hind sight is 20/20.”
I’ve been journaling and mentally releasing any moments that I’ve second guessed my decisions; affirming to myself, “I made the best decision I could at the time, with the information I had.” What a sense of relief in letting go of the past; its heavy burden has been lifted. I’ve also visualized the adrenal glands performing perfectly, peaceful, and balanced, to help heal them.
Through the herbal supplements, emotional releasing, journaling and visualization, my adrenal glands are now finally functioning perfectly. But, I still felt an imbalance.
My research into the adrenals also determined that there are other fat storing hormones. In addition to cortisol, excess estrogen also causes the body to store fat. Estrogen is injected into meat and poultry because meat is sold by weight and it is easier for an animal to gain fat then lean muscle mass. Our body has a difficult time breaking down this excess estrogen. Plus as we age our hormones levels change. Even as men age, testosterone is turned into estrogen causing them to gain body fat.
Meeting with the naturopath again, we determined that my estrogen levels were imbalanced. We muscle tested (applied kinesiology) several herbal supplements and found one that was right for me.
The first couple of weeks of taking the new supplement I felt worse. My heart was fluttery. But I trusted the process and stuck to the remedy. After two weeks the heart flutters stopped and I began to feel better. Now that I’ve completed the month’s supply, all I can say is, “WOW! I haven’t felt this good in over fifteen years.” Until I felt good again, I didn’t realize how bad I felt. I chalked up the lack of motivation and lethargy to my age, emotional stress, raising a family, building multiple businesses, and just having a busy life.
Through this process, I realize my body craves balance. The biggest “ah-ha” moment for me was in understanding I had used food to compensate for the imbalance my body was feeling. The hormone imbalance isn’t the only area I’ve experienced this before. I’ve had my share of imbalances on emotional and mental levels also. At times it was easier to deny my feelings and think, “I’ll deal with this later.” But I’ve learned that suppressing the feelings only makes it easier to continue stuffing my emotions and the food that typically went with it. After years of healing those imbalances, this physical phase is the last to heal.
Now when I’m feeling out of sorts, I meditate to see what messages my body is sending me. I ask questions such as, “what is my body telling me,” and “how do I approach this message?” instead of reaching for food. Although I haven’t reached my ideal weight, the past two months have helped my physical body be more balanced and aligned with my goal.
Mounting Frustrations
Posted by Jana | Filed under Transformation
Since the last post, I have spent some time meditating about my weight and my resistance to releasing it. For years I thought my thyroid was slow. But western doctors tell me it’s working fine. Still feeling sluggish I decided last year to step away from western medicine and take a more holistic approach to my health. I met with a Naturopath who determined my adrenal glands were working opposite of the way they should. They were under producing hormones in the mornings, making me feel exhausted throughout the day; and overproducing them at night, waking me up several times a night. Because of this pattern, my body was over producing cortisol to provide energy, but also telling my body to store fat for energy later.
The doctor gave me an herbal supplement to stimulate the adrenals in the morning and another to tone them down before bed. She also mentioned that once the adrenals were working properly the excess weight would drop off. After this discovery I thought, “Great, I finally have an answer.”
Silly me to believe it would really be that simple. My body didn’t like the herbs. The morning supplement caused migraine headaches and the night time supplement made me feel anxious, so back to the drawing board. I met again with the doctor and it was determined that my body wanted a homeopathic remedy to heal this.
For over a decade I have been studying the physical body and how it responds to our thoughts, emotions and beliefs. Our amazing bodies are a mass of moving energy. When we have consistent thoughts, emotions, and beliefs (all of which are forms of energy) that disrupt our body’s energy field, it creates a breakdown, which shows up in physical ailments. Once the thoughts and emotions are resolved, the body heals itself and returns to balance. Since my adrenal glands were functioning improperly I have been meditating on what issues caused them to be imbalanced.
One of the primary functions of the adrenal glands is to mediate the body’s stress response. According to Christian Fleche’s book The Biogenealogy Sourcebook, “Problems with the adrenal cortex and cortisol production relate to the fear of taking a wrong turn in life. Fear of having gone in the wrong direction, or being on the wrong path, whether it’s a real, imaginary, or symbolic one. The feelings of being lost may also relate to having strayed from the flock.” Louise Hay in “You Can Heal Your Life” states that adrenal issues stem from “no longer caring for the self. Defeatism.”
Hum, I’ll admit my life has been stressful; married, divorced, single mother of two toddlers, going back to work to support us, moving to California with no job, getting a job, quitting my job, starting my own business, moving again and building a new clientele, getting married, the list goes on and on. And, yes, I have second guessed my decisions on more than once occasion. In fact after looking back over the past fifteen years of my life I’ll say that I have wondered if I took a wrong turn or two (thousand). I admit that I have felt defeated by this process. It’s no wonder my body is energetically imbalanced and I’m holding onto the weight.
As the healing process occurs, our body brings our memories to the surface (in our field) for us to revisit. The memories are brought up as a reminder that we still have something to resolve. At this point we always have a choice to acknowledge them or suppress them for another time. Over the past several weeks, I’ve noticed memories from the past where I’ve questioned my decisions. To help resolve this I’ve been journaling these memories as they’ve been surfacing; reviewing my decision at the time; acknowledging my decision as the best possible solution at the time; and expressing gratitude for my progress.
The next step is releasing any emotions or beliefs to Creator, God, Universal Intelligence (or whatever you choose to call it). Sometime I do this by visualizing the energy leaving my body, or I visualize myself lying in a river and seeing the energy washing away, or I burn my journal pages releasing the energy through the fire. Once the energy is released I immediately replace it with new programming by using affirmations such as, “I am on the right path.” “I make great decisions.” I repeat the affirmation for a couple of weeks to help my brain integrate the new information and continuously reinforce my choice to make this change.
This process may seem silly to some, but the goal is to re-wire the brain’s information channels, by creating a new wiring, a new thought process and a new result. It is similar to rewriting a computer program. Each day we have a choice to re-write our lives. The past is already written, but we don’t have to re-live it. Each day the slate is clean, a blank page ready for us to create ultimately what we want. Making changes takes courage to say, “No, I don’t want to repeat this pattern. I want something different.” Sometimes we have to review painful stuff. Once we are willing to see it again, the Universe is always there to help us remove it and replace it, instead of repeating it.
Transformation – A Rocky Start
Posted by Jana | Filed under Transformation
As I step on the scale I have on seen this weight twice in my life – when I was pregnant with my two kids. As a fitness instructor during my 20’s, I thought I would easily maintain my weight throughout my life because I like to exercise and I’ve always led an active life. Now that I’m in my 40’s there is so much more going on physically, emotionally, and mentally. So finding the right combination in balancing these components plays a key role in success.
Exposing my goal in this way makes me feel vulnerable. Will anything change? Will I actually reach it this time? What if I fail? I’ve worked on this for over a year and the results are the same. It would be safer to set the goal, work towards it and then tell my success story after I’ve reached it. But I’ve learned the journey is the most important part of any transformation. So why do I feel this time things will be different? I’m not sure. Perhaps hope? We’ve all been told that accountability is an important part of reaching any goal. Perhaps putting my goal out there in a big way will help me reach it.
Even with my best intentions the process got off to a rocky start. I woke up with a sore throat on Sunday. My workouts for the past three days didn’t happen. Although I’m a bit frustrated, in the past I would have believed that forces were working against me reaching my goal. I could have thought, “Great, I’ve created a blog for this, and I’m doomed from the beginning.” But it gave me some time to think about the process differently.
I know I need to take a different approach than my old thought process of just eating better and exercising more. Einstein says, “Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.” So during my down time I’ve been asking myself, “What needs to be different to make the changes I want?”
Over the years I’ve learned there is one thing I can control – my thoughts and feelings. Do you realize that over 80 percent of our thoughts are unconscious? Yesterday I received a clue towards the solution. I was telling someone about this journey and she mentioned a program that Abraham Hicks offers called “Think and Get Slim.” So I looked at their website and watched a 9 minute video clip about the process, if you’re interested check it out at www.AbrahamHicks.com.
Esther talks about our thoughts and actions being upstream and downstream, and a metaphor of a reservoir being the energy and motivation used to inspire. If you think about it, moving upstream is swimming against the current; resisting the natural flow. And moving downstream is going with the flow. We cannot maintain moving upstream at all times. It is exhausting.
So I was thinking about any resistance I may have towards food or dropping weight and I remember hearing an interview a couple of weeks ago with tennis star Monica Seles. She has a book out talking about her lifelong challenge with her weight. She said, “My toughest opponent has been food.” According to the dictionary an opponent is an adversary. In an adversary relationship with food you’re swimming upstream in resistance. We have to eat! So during my meditations I will remove any thoughts or feelings that food is “bad” and replace it with creating a partnership with food.
Esther also talks about being vibrationally aligned with your goal. If I’m resitant to food or whatever the issue is, I create a vibrational tug-of-war between what I want and the end result. So, as I remove resistance, my energy shifts and the process of releasing weight becomes easier because everything begins to align to support the goal. The results will happen once the energy is balanced.
Tags: goals, meditation, Transformation, weight loss
12 Week Transformation
Posted by Jana | Filed under Transformation
What a relief to have another tax season behind me. Even with a well planned schedule, I still had clients with last minute returns. The final return was mailed to my client on April 10th and we flew to the East coast for spring break on April 11th. What a whirlwind! I’ll admit that during the last month my life was very out of balance. But now I’m ready to return to the heart and focus on the things that are most important to me.
One of the areas I want back in balance is my body weight. Although I was still actively participating in my exercise routine, I realized that my eating habits must have been out of balance. How do I know? Well, I gained three pounds during the month. Not a huge amount, but this is in addition to the ten pounds I already want to remove.
Why did this happen? Obviously, I made unconscious choices to eat things that were unhealthy or eat more than I should have. So often we make unconscious choices. Studies show that around 80 percent of our choices are unconscious. Wow, that’s surprising! We truly are creatures of habit.
When I was in my twenties it was much easier to alter my weight. Now that I’m in my forties, my life is more complicated. Back then there was just me, now the equation includes kids, husband, work, family and all the activities that come with it. With a busy schedule it’s easy to grab something simple and less healthy.
What’s it going to take to make this transformation? One of the obvious answers is making more conscious choices and breaking old habits. Stephen Covey says, “It takes 21 days to change a habit.” As a former fitness instructor I know it takes a bit longer to change the physical body. To remove one pound of fat you need to cut out or burn 500 calories a day for one week to total the 3,500 calories.
Fitness guru Bill Phillips has a great 12 week program helping participants reshape their bodies. Last year my husband Jason and I participated in one of his challenges. Although I made some changes, I have new goals I want to reach. It would be easy and safe to keep this goal to myself. Then no one knows if I make it or not. I’m including you in this challenge to provide inspiration into the process for something you want to change.
Are there areas of your life that are out of balance? Typically when there is an area out of balance, we compensate for it. How do you compensate for your imbalance? Do you overspend? Overuse drugs or alcohol? Exercise too much or too little? Eat too much or too little? Work too much or too little? Whatever the method of escape or need for fulfillment the result is the same – it provides an opportunity to feel bad about ourselves for our behavior.
Bringing balance into your life is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. It’s a reflection of self-love. And building a healthy, loving releationship with yourself provides a solid foundation for everything you wish to attract.
What area of your life do you want to make a change in? Join me for the next 12 weeks during this transformational journey. What will your life look like if you bring this part in balance? How will you feel about yourself if you do it?
How do you begin?
1) identify what it is you want to transform (pick only one area)
2) a note book or computer to journal the 12 weeks (both the good stuff and frustrations)
3) commit to yourself to follow through for the 12 week period (you may feel like you stop and start but keep going)
Are you in?
To prepare for the manifesting, write down a list of goals or intentions you want to attract or issues you want to release during the lunar cycle. After the cycle is over, review your old list crossing off goals achieved and file it, then begin a new list for the new cycle. To maintain balance in your life, look at goals on several different levels including financial, spiritual, mental, emotional, and physically.