Yearly Archives: 2015

Moving Forward Through Ups and Downs

Do you have a goal which seems far away? Are you working toward something but keep hitting obstacles? Are you uncertain you are on the right path? Have you lost your path and are not sure what is next? Lately many of my clients have been going through a confusing, frustrating, up and down time. Nothing seems stable any more. What used to be is gone, but what is next has not yet shown up. As our brain loves the familiar, it senses change as a danger knocking us into the blur and cloudiness of stress. Now not only are…

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How to Embrace the Holy Mess Of Your Life

I have had a plaque on my fireplace for a long time by artist Kelly Rae Roberts which says, “Kindness Changes Everything”. A friend of mine recently sent me another one of Kelly Rae’s inspirational quotes, “Embrace the imperfections, the chaos, the HOLY MESS of your BEAUTIFUL life”.  I love both of these sayings because they are all about the heart. While most people try to get rid of the uncomfortable stuff in their lives, true healing is about allowing our imperfections and chaos to float into our hearts. How do we do this? By embracing it all with kindness.…

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vacation

Stop Trying to Escape Your Life

The other day my friend told me her family goes on “adventures” not “vacations.” “Vacations,” she said, “makes it sound like we are vacating our life.” The concept struck me powerfully. How often are we vacating our lives? How often do we want to escape, to get away from our every day? It is all too common to believe we have to get through three hundred days of boredom, frustration, stress, and angst in order to have a few days where we vacate the normal and actually live! What if we didn’t need to vacate our lives? What if instead…

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How To Heal Your Guilt And Shame

A woman in one of my groups shared her experience of overwhelming guilt and shame.  Four years ago, she rescued a puppy that had deep fears, probably because of abuse.  Several months later, it began lunging at people on the street and actually nipped a woman.  After extensive training, the dog has come a long way and has not exhibited this kind of behavior for quite some time.  While my friend was out of town recently, the dog was being cared for by a neighbor and during a walk, it nipped an eight year old boy in the neighborhood.  After…

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Allow Kindness to Heal Your Struggling Self

With the return of my son’s cancer, I have had lots of opportunities to be with fear and despair.   Sharing this journey with my son has taken me to a deeper level of presence than I have ever known. My body has been a very dear friend throughout this fierce process, especially my belly and my breath. Whenever I am caught in the fear-based mind, sometimes all I can do is soften my belly and allow a deeper breath. The belly is one of the best biofeedback mechanisms we have.  If it is tight, we are up in our…

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World’s Largest Novel Project Just Launched!

If it were impossible to fail, what would you do differently or how would you live your life? For this 27 year-old author and entrepreneur - Yahaya Baruwa - the answer is very clear. After having developed the courage to take a leap of faith and write his now bestselling novel, Struggles of a Dreamer: the Battle between a Dream and Tradition - at a very young age, this author acts as if it is impossible to fail. This seems to be the driving force behind everything he has been able to accomplish to date. One example of this, is…

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A Mother’s Message (A Message to All Our Inner Children)

If I were to leave my beautiful children with a special message for them to carry close for the rest of their days as they walk this Earth in their magnificent bodies, it would be to remember their source: remember love. This message is relevant for all of us, as we are all grown versions of our inner children, seeking guidance and support in the same way we did as little ones.  Some of us require even more love and support as we mature, as we navigate through this life and face challenges and pains we didn't expect or know…

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Death to Multitasking

I love going to Mexico. For every task, there is a “guy” who does it. They do not have jack-of-all-trades handymen. If you are working on your house, you do not call one person, but have to contact a separate plumber, electrician, and painter. And it is not just about home repairs. If you need your shoes shined, there is a guy for that. Our Mexican friend would never consider shining her own shoes; it is not her role and she would be taking away someone else’s job. She looks at us with a quizzical face when we talk about…

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How Stressed Are You?

We may not realize how much stress affects us. The Price of Stress When we are stressed our limbic brain takes over, shutting down all body systems which do not help us fight or flee danger. Our digestive, reproductive and immune systems are turned off momentarily to move all our power and energy to our muscles to run or defend ourselves. Once the immediate danger is over, our systems revert back to normal functioning. The problem is today our stressors are not momentary physical dangers but a constant bombardment of mental stress. We rush the kids to school. We get…

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How To Use The Mantra, “Just This Much”

If you watch your mind, you will see that it goes into the past or future all day long.  It especially loves to go into the future and when it really gets activated, it moves from a whole different place.  It will convince you that that you can’t do it right, or you can’t do it at all, or something bad is going to happen, and the thoughts go on and on.   These thoughts are just not true because we don’t know what is going to happen.  All we have is this present moment, but you can begin to see…

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The Four Insights: Co-creating with the Divine to Dream the World into Being

I learned the wisdom of the Four Insights from the Earthkeepers (medicine men and women) of the Andes and the Amazon, who use these teachings to heal disease, eliminate emotional suffering, and even create bodies that age and heal differently. The Four Insights reveal ancient skills anyone can practice to perceive the energy and vibration that make up the physical universe at a much higher level, allowing us to participate consciously in our biological, emotional, and spiritual evolution. Many years ago, these shamanic practices changed my life, and since then, the lives of many of my students. 1) THE WAY…

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What I Learned from My Father

Happy Father's Day! On this special day, I want to honor my dad, Gordy Goodwin, who passed away on May 20th, 2012. Through the years, here's what he taught my siblings and me. In honor of Gordon Goodwin - 1932-2012 - with gratitude for a life well lived. Make God a priority in your life. Have faith that God is always with you and know that you are never alone. Live your faith and let your life serve as a testament to your beliefs in such a way that others will want to be like you. Walking the walk is much…

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10 Ways to Remain a Kid at Heart

When I grow up I have decided to be a "big kid" instead of an adult. What made me decide to do this? I watch my mom and dad and all of their friends have fun, but I still think they are missing out on the good stuff kids get to do.... I think there should be an option to grow up but still do kid things. This would make the world a better place because everyone would be having fun. In the world full of "big kids" everyone would get to do stuff like: Play outside everyday. Don't just…

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5 Simple Techniques to Get Unstuck

It happens to each one of us at one time or another. We become stuck. We enter a state of lethargy. Whether it involves our work or our home life, there are just days (and unfortunately sometimes weeks and months) where we feel stuck. We don’t seem to have the energy to move forward. We feel the need to get things done but can’t find a grain of momentum to make it happen. After a while we know we have to do something, yet we sit on the couch like an immobile brick. Stuck. When this happens, remember that feeling…

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How to Truly Forgive Yourself

What would happen if you were to realize that everything you have done is just a part of the natural unfolding of life, and that it is forgivable?  What would it be like if you forgave yourself for all of it? I have been reading the book, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed, and I want to share this inspirational excerpt about forgiveness: “What if I forgave myself?  I thought. What if I forgave myself even though I’d done something I shouldn’t have?  What if I was a liar and a cheat and…

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Broke? Burned out? Depressed? Try investing in Yourself

I have had the luxury of speaking before large groups of people lately. Seems people want to hear what I have to say, which is really funny because I generally prefer to read in the tub or walk in the mountains. I usually listen to what the universe tells me before sitting down to write, and the universe speaks to me when people email me, call me, talk to me after an event of ask me questions and tells me what to talk about.  “I don’t have any money. My book isn’t selling. I’m working three jobs. Nobody is...blah blah…

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How to Honor Your Survival System

We all created a finely-crafted survival system to bury or numb our pain when we were young.  We had to, as it was absolutely necessary for survival.  Life was too scary, and we didn’t have the skills to meet ourselves in our hearts. Our survival system can include compulsions, such as drug and alcohol abuse, shopping, work, sex, the Internet, busyness, self-judgment, and chronic worry.  I think about all of those years that I shut down the pain with food, drugs and alcohol.  In one year alone, I gained 97 pounds.  I would have died of the pain if I…

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My Gratitude List

Every morning I sit outside on my high-floor terrace in South Florida, sip my coffee, and read an uplifting pamphlet or two. Then I write out my day’s schedule. Too often, despite the uplifting material, I start worrying about this client or that deadline or the seemingly endless list of tasks on the schedule. And my quiet time erodes into anxiety. The activity that’s supposed to help me ease into the day with a positive outlook has the opposite effect. Instead of returning to my home office refreshed and ready to work, I’m drained and irritable. As I kept noticing…

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doctor

Become the Project Manager of Your Health

Visiting doctor after doctor, none could diagnose my pain. They would prescribe a pill with the hopes of relief. Finally one doctor, after still not providing a diagnosis, said, “Let’s give you a hysterectomy. Maybe that will help.” This experience led me to become the project manager of my own health. Two issues currently exist with our Western medical system. First, our current system no longer treats the patient but treats the symptoms. Medications are administered not to remove the illness but to relieve the symptoms. Pharmaceutical companies market to patients and doctors offering quick fixes to our discomfort. Secondly,…

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Me Through You

Everyone gets to listen in and hear what Spirit uniquely conveys to them. The wisdom that I would pass along if I were down to my last 500 words would be about what I heard when I asked about an expression that kept floating into my consciousness. I simply inquired: What do you mean by ‘me through you’? If I were the voice of the universe, I would communicate me through you. I would give you ways and words that would support you in making your life an inspiring expression of my nature. Your explorations would show me all of…

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An Open Heart Heals

The willingness to meet whatever is showing up in our lives takes courage.  Did you know that the root for the word courage means “of the heart”?   It takes an open heart and deep compassion to see all of the conditioned stories in our heads that keep us separate from life.  It takes courage to see them, love them and, under that gaze of compassion, allow them to evaporate like the summer fog when it is touched by the morning sun. I have been experiencing a lot of pain in my back and leg for quite some time now. …

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