Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, uses the phrase “spark joy” in her book. She says, “The ultimate goal is to spark joy every day and lead a joyful life.” She describes this philosophy as kurashi, which she says roughly translates to “way of life.” Hell, yeah it’s a way of life! It’s a conscious […]
This month has been packed with deadlines, emails, phone calls, meetings, projects and more projects. Before I knew it I was stuck in the “overwhelmed” mode. You know, where you’ve got so much to do that you’re frozen in the headlights and don’t quite know where to begin. Your brain fires up some lovely self-talk
Just Don’t Stand Still Read More »
Today was a tough day. I’ve been battling an ongoing cold, trying to travel and wrap up tasks for the book, and the most challenging part is we had to schedule a vet to come to the house to help ease my lab’s suffering. Dixie is over 15 years old and lived a very good
Feel the Feelings but Don’t Become the Emotion Read More »
Taking time to be present and involving ourselves in activities that fully captivate our attention has been found to contribute enormously to overall happiness. Theorist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has named the state of being fully involved in the moment as the state of “flow.” You’ve probably heard the adage that time flies when you’re having fun.
One of our favorite health movements is called the International Society for Humor Studies. The therapists in this field coach people on how to laugh genuinely and fully as a coping strategy for dealing with life’s stresses, such as unruly children, illness, money, or whatever else life throws at you. The idea is to teach people
The idea of letting go seems simple on the surface. But when you look into the practice of letting go, you realize just how complicated those two little words can be. Ideally, we would all be aware of our thoughts and they would serve us well. Unfortunately, most of us are influenced by irrational and
Carl Rogers famously wrote, “The curious paradox is the more I can accept myself, the more I can change.” This was written back in 1961, so it’s nothing new. But it still holds true and is as vital today as it was back then. We are all guilty on some level of beating ourselves
Let Self-compassion Flow Read More »
Written for you by Beth I happened upon the book The Velveteen Principles: A Guide to Becoming Real by Toni Raiten-D’Antonio in a vintage bookstore. I have heart-squeezing memories of reading The Velveteen Rabbit to my children when they were younger, so I was intrigued enough to buy this little hardback copy. I am glad
When you focus on the good, the good gets better – Esther Hicks Martin Seligman began the positive psychology movement in 1997, which changed the focus of psychology from studying dysfunction to learning more about the things that make life worth living; good idea, Mark! Since then, there’s been tons of research on the
Written for you by Beth I recently listened to The Mind Body Green Podcast hosted by Jason Wachob. I have over a 45-minute commute to and from work, so I have plenty of time to listen. This podcast talked about using functional imagery to lose weight. The guest was a Licensed Social Worker who had
Visualize Your Way to Positivity Read More »
The word believe conjures up encouragement, empowerment, and trust in yourself. Believe you are valuable and deserving. Look first to yourself for validation and self-compassion. Separate yourself from your achievements and accomplishments because you’ve always been more important than the W’s you have ticked in the win column. Belief is your birthright and what makes
