February Update- My happiness project.

February Happiness Project Update

So February was all about the kids and creating a more peaceful home.  Did I do this?  Well my daughter Gabriela gave me the thumbs up, except for the game night each week she says.  I might say back that since we are pretty active, we did some other cool stuff instead.  I will give myself a thumbs up here too because as I look back I see that I have created some new habits.

Move more quietly.  I think this gets 7 out of 10 stars.  I was definitely more mindful of creating peace and slowing down.  I was more interactive and there were some new moments with the kids that I had not experienced before.   Sure we had some racing around and get er done moments too but overall I really think I did pretty well and I did remember to remind them and talk to them about new possibilities for ourselves.  

Wake the kids in a fun way and wake up 30 minutes earlier.  I think this was really helpful and easily became a nice routine.  By waking up earlier and being ready for work before I woke them, the change I noticed was really within myself.  I found that when I am ready to go and more together, that I can control our mornings better and stay in the flow.  I even had Gabi laying out her clothes the night before which made her feel more excited about waking up.  When I was more alert and organized so was Gabi and this was the key to changing our chaotic mornings to a more peaceful routine.  We are usually a step behind but in February we were mostly on time and showing up in a new way. 

I will use better language and be mindful of the kids being around when talking to other adults.  I think I was much better and mostly at the beginning of the month.  In the end my language slipped a bit by habit, but I feel that overall this was easily accomplished. Just being aware was a step in the right direction. 

Listen from a loving space.  With all of the emotional going on in my life, I would like to say that I did the best with what I had.  I did set aside some special time for the kids each week.  I am looking forward to continuing to making this an important task in my daily life because the benefits that I see here are so important for us all.  

Emphasize exercise and do it with the kids.  I am very happy to say that I did this well.  First we started with walking the dog and now we are getting away each week to hike.  I am happy to do this with the kids as it feels great to go out as a family and start to create new family traditions. 

Have a game night.  We set aside 2 nights this month for game night, however we also had a date night where I took the kids to the movies and another night out having dinner.  I like this so much because in action we become different people and enjoy another side of ourselves.  This has also been good for the kid’s relationships to each other and with less fighting I got to sit back and enjoy this peace.

More hugs and teaching moments.  Yes yes yes!  Where there is more peace there is more love and understanding.  What a great month of growth with kids.  I am getting excited for the new challenges in March. 

This month is March= Movement.  Gosh I am so excited to start to push myself to get moving.  I sit around more than I have ever in my life.  Always so much to do and always doing it behind a computer screen.  Sitting around has been terrible on my body.   So for March I am setting movement goals. This is perfect timing because the sun is out and spring is in the air.  

My goals are to stretch each morning after my shower, walk the dog daily with the kids, attend a yoga class each week and start to ride my bike.  I am over excited to start implementing this new change in lifestyle to feel more healthy as after I am turning 40 this month.    

  

Social Media & Branding... Oh my!

This month we are reading a book called “likeable social media” by Dave Kerpen.   Just when you think “I’ve got this”, then I get the opportunity to see that I have so much more to learn about marketing in our technologically savvy world.  What I have learned is that just like personal relationships, social media is not called “social” because you just put something out there on the internet and hope to connect.  Connecting on social media is almost as real as chatting at a networking group.  I am talking about relationships.  As I tell some practitioners, “if you want to fill your classes, you have to shake hands, talk to people and invite them to be a part of what you are doing”, I say that because there is no replacing physical contact.  However, now I am learning that if you do social media right, you can connect very personally with your audience. Whoa!  

I have to find the time to slow down and connect.  Social media is not just a place to post and say “there, it’s done.  I'll do it again next week" This was another "A Ha" moment when I realized that social media has its own personality and I need to show up.  But to show up, I need to have time.  In my busy world, I have figured out that time=more help.  So, I have started to get volunteers and have hired a gal to take over some busy work a few hours a week.   

Also to really show up on social media, I must get my brand down and this branding idea, still has me a bit perplexed.  There are so many facets of my business that getting it all to come together is part waiting process and part trying new things to see what works.  I have always viewed branding as a logo and I am pretty sure that is not what these books are telling me.  I think where I become a bit lost is how does the brand cover all of what I am doing yet still convey the same message?  Further, how do I get something out to community that is representative of the whole vision yet short and sweet? 

Here is what I do know:

I have a logo and I don't use it on all of my advertising.  Not good.

I have many different names that I use for different parts of the business...I'd better nail that down.

I sell and only use the best products made with love.  Consistently, very good.

My vision is key to all of the many different avenues.  Hmmm….

Many people do not know what it is that I do, even still or all that Pathways has to offer.  Time for a change here, but I have a marketing coach that is trying to help me out.  

I have very little time to show up on social media, though I am getting volunteers to help in the center.  

I guess other than providing good service and amazing products, it is time to start messaging. 

I see that my brand needs still needs some work yet.  

Since I am a silver lining type of gal, the good news is writing it out is a great start.  I think if I meditate on this for a while, clarity will come.  
March = Messaging!  I will keep you informed!

What is the true cost of cleaning in today's toxic world?

Each week I teach people about Essential oils and how to use them in their homes and for health.  Essential oils can be applied in many ways.  You can put a few drops of clary sage in your bath to help with cramps, put lavender on your band aid to assist your body in healing cuts and scrapes or by diffusing Eucalyptus into the air to help with a cold.   One of the most profound concepts that I teach is how Essentials get into our bodies and why we should start using less toxic chemicals all around. 

Take Essential oils for example, they get into your saliva within 30 seconds and can be in every cell of our bodies in about 30 minutes.  When we are speaking about the benefits of Essential Oils, we think “Great”!  However if this is true of EO’s, take it one step further.  This means that ammonia, bleach and other harmful chemicals are also entering our blood streams.  How would this effect our bodies after a lifetime of use?  So are there other alternatives to using harmful chemicals and if so, why are we not using them?

Luckily due to demand in certain areas of the country, the grocery stores are offering less toxic options and even at a premium price if you just substitute that with every other purchase you are decreasing the amount of toxins that get into your system by 1/2.  You can also make your own products that are equally effective.  Like for instance, I recently made a foot spray for my boys “stinky feet” with essential oils which works beautifully.  This cost was a little more up front but I can make this spray over and over with the ingredients that I purchased the first time and I can use those oils to make a ton of other things. Now a step further, imagine how great you will feel learning something new, making changes to keep your family safe & being creative.  This change alone in our psyche can increase overall happiness in our lives. 

Since harmful chemicals can also get into our bodies by inhalation, can you imagine how this could negatively affect someone who is fighting chronic illness, cancer or respiratory disease?   They are fighting to create clean healthy cells in a world where we are already in toxic overload.  We take for granted the air we breathe, don’t we?  There are studies about the effects of living in cities with clean air verses polluted air and we seem to understand that but most often feel that we can’t do a lot about it.  We love to light heavily scented candles, use glade plug-ins or other methods to clear the air but we don’t get the skinny on the side effects of these chemicals after long term use. 

Sulfates, propylene glycol, Deet to name a few lace our cleaning supplies, bugs sprays, lotions, perfumes, shampoo’s and makeup and as long as you do not ingest or splash them in your eyes then they are considered safe because they are not intended to be used internally and not toxic enough to cause harm on the first round.  But what is the effect of daily use of the combined chemicals?  To me this is like taking all sorts of prescription drugs but unaware of how those drugs will interact with each other.  Public education stops there because it effects the bottom line and lets face it as long as the public keeps buying, why would they change.  

Now I must interject and tell you that I know I don't live in a world where even I can be chemical free if that is my choice.  I do what I can and where I can.  

Last year, I took over a cleaning business and luckily the previous owner was conscious about the products that she was using.  This really got me thinking about our cleaning professionals and how it is my responsibility to keep them safe as a business owner.   Now we use Thieves Essential Oil multi-purpose cleaner and Shaklee products to clean our houses.  Not only are the products that we use environmentally friendly, but also they work really well and keep our cleaning professionals safe.  Thieves’ essential oil is antiviral, antimicrobial, anti fungal, and also cleans, disinfects and can help maintain a healthy respiratory system.    

What I am saying here today is that there are choices that we can make and educating ourselves won’t cost us a lot more money, it will actually keep us safer, healthier and increase our joy over our lifetimes.  

We hold weekly classes at Pathways Holistic Center and you can see a list of those classes on our website at Pathways Holistic Center.  If you are within 3.5 hours of Fort Collins and would like to hold a class on Essential oils and how to use them, I would be happy to facilitate.  Please contact me direct by email at onesourcelivewell@gmail.com if you have any questions about getting started on your road to better health and overall happiness. 

If you would like to start investing in some the products mentioned above, please go to our website Pathways Holistic Center and under shop you can sign up for Young Living Essential Oils or Shaklee and start improving your home and health today.   

Let go of the story and clarity will return.

I have had the honor to work with an amazing woman and relationship coach, whom I consider a dear friend.  Joanna Kennedy is the CEO & Founder at The Center for Happiness, Love and Pleasure.  Joanna’s gifts and appeal are magnetic and spot on, her presence is encapsulating and her message so profound.  SELF-LOVE!  

Last week Joanna gave a talk and I heard her message over and over and it brought tears.  That message was how can we love anyone if we do not love ourselves first?  This is the essences of relationships and also the base.  She talked about how self-love was the basis for passionate & happy relationships, careers and Lives.   This makes so much sense!  For me personally I have been putting myself last.  Sure I am a happy person in general, but over the years as a mom and wife, self-love was coming in the form of a hug or kiss goodnight.  Where was my passion in ME? 

I have unfortunately and surprisingly found my relationship hanging by a thread.  My marriage of 10 years is now not much more than a shared responsibility with children.  I have separated and found myself in complete disarray as I never imagined that I would be in this position.   I get it, worse things can happen, but a broken heart is so painful.  In order to deal with this pain we create stories.  Stories of what happened, who did what and a new story for each emotion that surfaces.  I found myself one day trying to remember which story was I telling myself that made sense of my anger and which story made me believe that it could go away. 

Last week I finally got to spend time with Joanna in my office.  I was so eager for someone to help me stop feeling the pain and make sense of these emotions, after a long hug, a cry and some loving words, she told me that feeling my emotions was honorable.  That feeling would help me move to clarity, but I needed to stop telling the stories.  Um, did she know just how many stories that I was telling?   Or how many sides to the same stories that I kept in the back of my mind?  She helped me to realize that each story was not a step to clarity as I thought, but that in just feeling the emotions with out the story would.  She commended me for feeling, but in my mind then what?   Just stop there?  Do not explain?  Do not justify?  Do not rehash or try to make sense of it all? 

I took her advice that day and realized that staying in the emotion and not going to the story was choosing self-love.  Working less to make sense of it all and instead putting my energy into getting to the other side of the feeling.  Keeping the vibration of that feeling, but instead of reacting or trying to make myself feel better, just wait.  Then I would raise my vibration by change of venue, answering a phone call or getting outside in nature.  

Clarity does come.  It comes in the form of peace even if just for a moment when the pain subsides.  What seemed so simple is creating a new perspective.  I am human, I hurt like everyone else and I am not alone in this.  This is life, emotions are real and life moves on.  The bigger question she said is how do you want to move on?  What are your values and where are they on you scale? 

When you feel the emotions through, clarity will come.  Stay out of the stories and you will see, life will unfold as it should.   I know that god has a plan for me and my family and I know that it is a happy & joyous plan which is just right around the corner. 

I thank you for your support in reading my blog, please take some time to select follow by email and remember to check out our website at PathwaysHolisticCenter.com.