Tame your monkey?

Tame your monkey?

by | Dec 1, 2025 | Holistic Life Coach, Mindfulness, Well-being

It’s the time of year when many of you are feeling overwhelmed by your obligations, intentional/unintentional review of the past years’ lowlights/highlights, and thoughts about what you want to manifest in the new year.

This monkey mind chatter can stir up emotions that can cause you to lose clarity and focus. What if there could be a way to navigate through the chatter so you don’t feel stuck?

There is a very simple way: silence. People go to great lengths to avoid sitting alone in silence. We tend to seek anything that might fill that perceived empty space instead. However, silence is medicine.

I’m not suggesting that you go on a silent retreat, although this is the most powerful solution. But if you’re ready to manage your mind rather than let it manage you, then I suggest you try this easy exercise to begin: 

Take yourself to a favorite place, ideally in nature but anywhere you can be alone and undisturbed for 30-minutes. Leave EVERYTHING behind (this means no phone).

Bring something you can use as a timer—or surrender to your own sense of time.

Take a few deep and grounding breaths to release the day’s activities. Begin to watch your thoughts and notice what thoughts stream in and how they fluctuate over the course of your silence.
 
· What triggers your mind to become activated?
· How long does it take for your mind to become quiet?
· What thoughts, positive and negative, begin to bubble up and dominate?
· If you are working through a particular health or personal challenge, what thoughts arrive related to them?
· Are you judging yourself or others?
· Can you begin to feel emotionally neutral?

At the end of the 30-minutes, try to journal about your experience. What comes up may surprise you.

You take a shower every day. Why not cleanse your mind daily as well? 😉

Have you looked under your nose?

Have you looked under your nose?

by | Oct 8, 2025 | Mindfulness, Personal Growth, Wellness

Do you know how to breathe? By this I mean deep breathing through your nose, the kind that can pull down your diaphragm, anchor your pelvis, replenish your adrenals, and oxygenate your brain.

We are born knowing how to breathe properly. But modern life causes us to lose our grasp on this. As a result, we wind up breathing in a way that disconnects us from our bodies, our center, and thereby the mental clarity we need to move forward in the world in a way that satisfies us.

An unconscious, dysfunctional manner of breathing can affect your vagus nerve and is a hidden cause of anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, stress, and more. It is also the reason that breath-based practices such as meditation and yoga can have such a profound impact on your holistic health.

Most of you live with this imbalance. However, it makes healing, restful sleep, digestion, detoxification, and emotional regulation very difficult.

Those who work with me are often surprised when we wind up beginning with something fundamental. No, it’s not which vitamins to take or where to go for acupuncture. It’s more basic: We begin with breathwork and/or meditation.

I’m as guilty as anyone. Although I teach breathing, a highly demanding eighteen-month family crisis pushed me out of my rhythm. I was aware that my breath had become shallow, but was too busy to address it. UNTIL I began to experience physical symptoms that I never had before. Because I’ve been trained to respect my body when it speaks with warning signs, I knew that I needed to get in front of this.

Back to my meditation pillow I went, sitting for deep breathing and daily meditation (I must confess that I had become lax with my meditation as well). It didn’t take long before my symptoms subsided and I began to feel more balanced.

This month, I’m reminding you to view your breath as a doorway because it’s critical. With only a few minutes a day, the simple, ancient technique of deep breathing can awaken energy, sharpen focus, and bring your nervous system back into the balance it requires in order to self-heal. When you train your breath to behave as nature intended your body softens, your mind steadies, and your spirit begins to align with them. In this harried world of “do, do, do,” we all need to soften.

To refresh your memory on the many benefits of breathing and how to do it, read my previous article https://www.spiritualityhealth.com/benefits-of-nose-breathing

The life enhancing breath right under your nose could be the very thing you’ve been looking for (and likely missing) while looking at external solutions for your holistic health issues.

Learn to breathe properly. You will be amazed to see how powerful this is. 😉

You aware of your energy portals?

You aware of your energy portals?

by | May 10, 2025 | Mind, Body, Spirit, Mindfulness

Spiritual and yogic traditions propose that your body has seven main energy centers, referred to in Sanskrit as chakras. When looking to fine-tune your holistic health, you will want to consider the state of your chakra system. 

The word chakra translates to “wheel.” These vortices of energy are often depicted as spinning wheels running from the base to the crown of your spine. Each wheel is associated with specific expressions, indications, and biological associations.

Our work together occasionally calls on us to balance one or more of your chakras. The energetic state of each chakra is reflected by the velocity of its spin. Chakras can be open, resulting in a swift spin, or blocked, resulting in little to no spin. These wheels need to flow freely in order for you to experience the mental, physical, and emotional balance required for well-being. 

The events of 2025 continue to signal that our structures (i.e. financial, political, educational, social, etc.) are evolving. In order to be able to thrive through the chaotic energy that transitions can cause, you will want to ensure that your chakras are tuned-up.

This month, I invite you to review the state of your chakras. Your chakra system, with its corresponding expressions, indications, and biological associations, is summarized below.
 
CROWN #7 (Top of Head)
Expression: Spiritual Connection, Enlightenment, Wisdom
Open: Clear, Loving, Peaceful
Blocked: Fearful, Lack of Boundaries, Lack of Purpose
Biological Association: Brain, Nervous System

THIRD EYE #6 (Between Eyebrows)
Expression: Intuition, Imagination, Psychic Ability
Open: Intuitive, Creative, Perceptive
Blocked: Lack of Vision, Confusion, Overthinking
Biological Association: Pituitary Gland, Pineal Gland

THROAT #5 (Throat)
Expression: Communication, Self-expression, Creativity
Open: Communicative, Diplomatic, Imaginative
Blocked: Critical, Gossipy, Harsh
Biological Association: Thyroid Gland, Vocal Chords

HEART #4 (Chest)
Expression: Love, Compassion, Emotional Well-being
Open: Compassionate, Forgiving, Loving
Blocked: Jealous, Co-dependent, Grieving
Biological Association: Heart, Lungs

SOLAR PLEXUS #3 (Upper Abdomen)
Expression: Self-esteem, Confidence, Personal Power
Open: Empowered, Motivated, Confident
Blocked: Low Self-Esteem, Lack of Motivation, Indecisiveness
Biological Association: Stomach, Liver, Gallbladder, Pancreas, Spleen

SACRAL #2 (Lower Abdomen)
Expression: Creativity, Emotions, Sensuality
Open: Passionate, Joyful, Creative
Blocked: Low Vitality, Fear of Intimacy, Lack of Creativity
Biological Association: Sex Organs, Reproductive Organs

ROOT #1 (Base of Spine)
Expression: Stability, Grounding
Open: Grounded, Secure, Confident
Blocked: Fearful, Financial Worries, Untrusting
Biological Association: Spine, Kidneys, Bladder, Large Intestine

Do you get a sense that one or more of your chakras could benefit from a tune-up?

Root chakra blockages connected with fear and security are especially common, particularly during periods of transition. A blockage in any one chakra will affect energy flow to the others and eventually your holistic health. Don’t let this happen to you. 

If needed, I can help you to identify where your energy flow may be improved as well as support you in opening up any restriction.

Remember: Everything is about energy, including you.