Author: kvanness01

Hi, I'm Karen Van Ness, founder of Resilient Edge Wellness, Best Breathing Exercises, and Mind-Body Resilience. If you're looking beyond conventional wellness, fitness or health coaching programs and wish to tap into the vibrant health and energy already within you - to overcome chronic pain or a frustrating health condition, increase your fitness and energy, overcome trauma or vicarious trauma, or better manage stress – then this is the place for you. My goal is to help my readers, clients and students become more resilient, healthier, and happier.

A Natural Healing Approach to Trauma

April 25, 2023kvanness01

I recently presented at the End Violence Against Women International (EVAWI) Annual Conference in Chicago (#EVAWI2023). What a wonderful event! Over 2300 professionals attended in-person (plus another 300-plus virtually). I came away even more appreciative of the important work these law enforcement officers, advocates, nurses, mental health professionals, and prosecutors perform every day, and the impact they have on survivors of sexual assault and other forms of gender-based violence.

I also appreciate the professionals who stopped by our booth for more information – AND who attended my presentation on “A Natural Healing Approach to Trauma” using an energetic / mind-body-spirit approach rooted in Classical Chinese Medicine, a 5,000 year old healing tradition.

My presentation was interactive – we had over 140 attendees who asked some great questions. AND we did some breathwork and qigong exercises together. Thank you all for actively participating!

The presentation was titled, “A Natural Healing Approach to Trauma: Working with the Body’s Innate Wisdom to Facilitate Physical, Mental and Emotional Transformation”. Here’s what it covered:

Trauma, vicarious trauma, and PTSD frequently impact sexual assault survivors and those who work with survivors. Unfortunately, clinical and counseling interventions may not always succeed in helping individuals process or “move past” the trauma, because they do not fully address the healing that needs to occur at all levels.

Medical Qigong is a subset of Classical Chinese Medicine, a 5,000-year-old medical tradition that provides a complete body-mind-spirit approach and considers the whole being to enhance health and resilience. Its key principles operate in a holistic way by working with the energy centers and pathways of the body, helping clear out disease, blockages, old hurts, and emotional stagnation to kick start the body’s ability to repair and heal itself.

The presentation introduced participants to this ancient, proven “technology” that can empower individuals who have experienced a traumatic incident (including post-traumatic stress), as well as those within the helping professions who experience vicarious trauma. This approach works energetically to help regulate and unblock the energy meridians, which is often a “missing piece” for people who have been trying to resolve chronic emotional or physical issues, better manage stress, or increase energy levels.

IN our session, we provided attendees with an introduction to simple, accessible exercises which combine breathing, specific movement patterns, and visualization to help transform stress, center and ground, and improve health and internal energy. These exercises help redirect attention from stressful physical or environmental stimuli to a more inward, relaxed focus, leading to a greater sense of personal control and resilience.

Free Book!

I have also just completed a new book on this same subject. We received tremendous interest in the book at the conference, as well as in the consulting and coaching we provide which can be customized to each individual and to each organization’s requirements and objectives. We are having additional copies printed and will make this available for FREE for a limited time. If you are interested in learning more about these principles OR would like a free copy of my latest book on this subject, please visit the Mind-BodyResilience website.

Two Sides of the Same Coin

April 20, 2023kvanness01

As we discussed in our previous post, the Liver / Wood element is associated with compassion, patience, and kindness. These are the virtues we are born with. When our Liver is in balance, we manifest these virtues in the world. When our Liver is out of balance, we may experience anger or frustration, impatience, or rage.

In addition, the Liver is responsible for the smooth flow of blood (and therefore Qi). And it is said that the blood in turn influences our Shen or spirit. Whatever is going on in the Liver has a direct and significant impact on us physically, mentally, and emotionally.

I want to talk a little bit more about anger and its impact on us. When we purge and release stagnation, we not only enhance the patient’s physical health, but we also release excess anger that has built up. We can then regulate and balance the Liver’s energy.

But why is anger so bad for the Liver? Is anger always bad? Can’t it sometimes serve us?

Well, no emotion is completely “good” or “bad”, “positive” or “negative”. I try not to use those terms when explaining the Yin – Yang dynamics and inter-relationships between things, as it results in a value judgement that is not helpful. Rather, we should think in terms of continuums and whether being on the extreme range of a continuum is beneficial…or too much.

For example, the Heart is associated with joy and excitement. However, too much joy and excitement can manifest as manic behavior, anxiety, or ADD. As the saying goes, “It’s the dosage that makes the medicine or the poison”.

We observe the same continuum with anger. A certain amount of anger or frustration can serve to motivate us to make changes or work harder to overcome the obstacles in our way. However, the motivational power of anger usually does not last long. And excessive anger can become rage.

The most insidious aspect of anger – especially in terms of its effect on the Liver – is that it is usually directed inwardly at ourselves. This kind of sustained, self-directed anger and frustration is the root cause of many illnesses. It unbalances the Liver energy, resulting in either excess – and the Liver overpowering the Heart or Spleen – or in deficiency, with the Liver pulling more energy, more Jing, from the Kidneys.

Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it stands than to anything on which it is poured
Mahatma gandhi

In their ancient wisdom, the early classical Chinese medical doctors paired anger and compassion as the acquired and congenital emotions or virtues associated with the Liver. They really are two sides of the same coin. Anger, whether directed inwardly or at others, is a destructive emotion. When we treat others – and ourselves – with compassion, we acknowledge the good, the divine spark, in each of us, and we propagate kindness, empathy, and grace into the world. We build up rather than tear down. We move forward with forgiveness and understanding, rather than allow ourselves to remain mired in the muck of anger and rage.

Anger may spark us to act – sometimes in a helpful way – but it can also be potentially destructive. On the other hand, compassion involves not only sympathy or empathy, but also a strong drive to alleviate the suffering of others.

One of the phrases I like to use – and often remind myself of – is by Dr. Maxwell Maltz, who developed Psycho-Cybernetics back in the 1950s and 1960s. One of his simplest but most profound teachings is, “See yourself – and others – with kind eyes”.

An Important Storage Spot for Emotional Energy

April 6, 2023kvanness01

In previous posts, we’ve discussed the Five Element Framework of Classical Chinese Medicine and applied it specifically to the current season, Spring, and its associated element and organ, Wood / Liver.

Let’s get into some of the emotional and energetic manifestations of the Liver.

The Wood element energy is defined as “New Yang”, manifesting through new beginnings and expansive and sprouting growth actions. It therefore represents a period of energetic growth and expansion. Hence, its association with Spring and the growth and expansive energies we see, feel, and hear all around us as plants and flowers sprout up from the ground, trees begin to leaf up, birds and critters begin to pair up and nest, and the daylight hours grow longer.

Liver energy is a rising energy. We can feel it thrust upwards in our body when we perform our Liver DaoYin exercise. In the exercise, we guide the energy up with our hands, then guide the energy back down so we stay grounded and rooted.

From an emotional aspect, the energy of the Wood element corresponds to what the Daoists call the Hun or Soul of each person. This theory holds that the Liver encodes all our memories and emotional content and, in a sense, writes or records this onto the “CD” or “tape” of each person’s life. This then becomes the record of our life that we take with us when we transition. In a sense, this corresponds with the concept of our subconscious which takes in everything that happens to us and serves as a repository of memories and emotional content. This is one reason we focus on the Liver as part of assessing and working with individuals who may have suffered from trauma.

Here’s the good news: we are not stuck with the initial recording that has been laid down in our Hun. As we mature, move away in time from the traumatic incident, learn, and grow, we can go back, either consciously or unconsciously, and process and modify the memories and emotional content. We can go back and change the story or reframe what happened to us. We take the lesson we can learn, the motivation to do or be different or better. We welcome the perspective and even wisdom we can derive from the experiences that come with living a full life.

The Liver / Wood element is associated with compassion, patience, and kindness. These are the virtues we are born with. When our Liver is in balance, we manifest these virtues in the world. When our Liver is out of balance, we may experience anger or frustration, impatience, or rage.

Therefore, treatment of the Liver often includes purging to help eliminate the toxicity that has built up. We can do this through energetic treatments; through specific types of qigong exercises; and even through simple things like drinking lemon water.

The Liver is responsible for the smooth flow of blood (and therefore Qi). When we purge and release stagnation, we not only enhance the patient’s physical health, but we also release excess anger that has built up. We can then regulate and balance the Liver’s energy, allowing benevolence, compassion, and love for others to radiate from the Liver.

As we approach Easter, it seems appropriate to do our part to send out more benevolence, love, and compassion, doesn’t it?

Let That Shit Go (It’s Good for You)

March 23, 2023kvanness01

Let’s apply the Five Element Framework specifically to the current season, Spring, and its associated element and organ, Wood / Liver. What are the physical and emotional health aspects of Liver? And how can you support your Liver and overall health, especially now that Spring Has Sprung?

According to Classical Chinese Medicine, the Liver is the organ responsible for the smooth flow of emotions as well as the smooth flow of Qi and blood in your body. It controls the volume and smooth flow of blood in your vessels and stores the blood. It’s the organ that is most affected by excess stress or emotions. The Liver’s partner organ is the Gallbladder.

The eyes are the sensory organ related to the Liver. If you have any eye issues, including blurry vision, red or dry eyes, itchy eyes, it may be a sign deep down that your Liver is not functioning smoothly. Also, we often consider the brightness in someone’s eyes as an indicator of their overall health and vitality.

The tendons are the tissue associated with the Liver. In Chinese martial arts, they say that strength comes from the tendons, not the muscles. We also focus on tendon and ligament strength and suppleness in our qigong practice.

Anger is the emotion associated with the Liver. If you are often irritable, get angry easily, have trouble unwinding from the day’s activities, have trouble reasoning or going with the flow and letting things go, you are experiencing a Liver function problem. Experiencing these emotions chronically or excessively, such as ongoing frustration, can seriously unbalance the function of your Liver.

Positive attributes associated with the Liver are drive and determination. Think about the “drive”, the “will to life” we see every spring as the tiniest shoots of plants or grass or trees push up through the soil, or even through rocks or cracks in the concrete. In human terms, this corresponds to the person who has will power to overcome challenges and even create new things.

Spring is the season associated with the Liver and Gallbladder. It’s the season of growth and renewed energy, so it’s a wonderful time to work on your Liver. Just don’t get too caught up in the spring’s intense energies. Taking walks in the park or the woods is a fantastic way to rejuvenate. As I said above, the Liver is the organ most affected by excess stress or emotions. So let go of the stress and any anger (see my Buddha T-shirt for one of my favorite phrases…). Also, purging exercises, such as the Five Elements Dao Yin Exercise you can learn here, are a fantastic way to detox your liver.

One thing to also be careful about is to watch the alcohol. If you drink, drink in moderation because alcohol has a direct impact on your liver. Being a beer and wine drinker myself, I hate to have to pass that along, but… a drink or two here or there is not a problem. But if you feel like your Liver may need some TLC, lay off for several weeks and see how you feel.

In my next post, I’ll explore more of the psychological, emotional, and spiritual aspects associated with Liver and Gallbladder.

The Five Elements Framework and How It Can Improve Your Health

March 17, 2023kvanness01

From a health enhancement and medical perspective, the Five Element Framework provides a master blueprint that diagrams how nature interacts with the body and how the different dimensions of our being impact each other, as well as a diagnostic framework to recognize where imbalances in the body, mind, emotions, and spirit lie.

The Five Elements include the five Yin organs – Lung, Kidney, Liver, Heart, Spleen (and their corresponding Yang organs: Large Intestine, Bladder, Gall Bladder, Small Intestine, and Stomach respectively) – and address the interconnected relationships between them. Within Medical Qigong and Classical Chinese Medicine, we can treat disease and illness – and sometimes even acute issues such as pain – associated with each organ (or organ system) through specific energetic treatments, exercises, and food or supplement recommendations.

As a Medical Qigong practitioner, I often teach my patients a special set of exercises called the Wu Xing Jing, or Five Elements Health Form. Each exercise in the Five Elements Form is targeted to a specific organ system and helps to support, regulate, and balance that organ.

The version of the Wu Xing Jing I usually teach is actually a Dao Yin form. Dao Yin exercises are about how you can stretch and make the body become supple through therapeutic awareness of the movements as you are doing them. They are very similar to Qigong exercises; however they were developed thousands of years ago and are thought to be precursors to Qigong. Certain Dao Yin forms have come down to us from ancient times and are still practiced today, although they may not be as well-known and therefore not as widely taught as Qigong.

These exercises work through the principle of Yin and Yang, in that when something reaches its extreme, it’s going to take on its counterpart. When something becomes too Yang, it becomes Yin, and vice versa. Through these exercises you are taking something to the state of full contraction or extension, then returning it back to its opposite. This has physiological benefits, helps move the Qi or internal energy to where it’s needed (or moves it away from where it is excessive), helps heal or maintain health of the organs, and opens up the energy pathways of the body.

By the way, if you are interested in learning more about the Five Elements / Wu Xing Jing Dao Yin Form, click here.

In my next post, I’ll explain how we apply the Five Element Framework specifically to the current season, Spring, and its associated element and organ, Wood / Liver. We’ll discuss the physical and emotional health aspects of Liver and how best to support your Liver and overall health, especially now that Spring Has Sprung!

Restore Your Connection

February 10, 2023kvanness01

One of the most fundamental aspects of practicing Qigong, as well as working with patients within the Medical Qigong paradigm, is Grounding.

Grounding is the ability to fully connect with the Yin energy of the earth. Through a simple grounding meditation, we center and relax, connect, and allow ourselves to feel the warm, comforting embrace of Mother Earth’s energy. When you are grounded, you feel a sense of stability, of being safe, secure and protected, and of being whole.

An interesting aspect of grounding is that we are connecting through our lower dan tien or energy center, which is in the middle of the lower abdomen. This is our physical center of gravity, our center. It is also related to our essential essence or “Jing”, the life force or vital energy that we are born with. When we ground, we automatically support and enhance our Jing. But we are also connecting with our spiritual side, albeit in a subtler way. When we ground, the energy moves from our lower dan tien, through our root or base (Huiyin point at the perineum), and then up through our heart center and all the way to the crown of our head – the Baihui point, which is analogous to the crown chakra in yoga.

Hence, the feeling of wholeness we enjoy when we are fully grounded is not just physical wholeness or stability, it is also mental and emotional wholeness and stability. In our paradigm, body (physical), heart/mind (emotional and mental), and spirit (higher consciousness) are inextricably connected. When we give ourselves the gift of grounding, we impact our entire being.

When mind, heart and body are in synch, you are grounded. Some wonderful manifestations or signs of being grounded include:

-You feel safe.

-You feel present – your mind is focused on the here and now, not drifting to the past or worried about the future.

-You feel comfortable in your own body.

-Your biorhythms, such as heartbeat, breathing, and blood pressure are entrained, stable, and slower.

-Your personality manifests as someone who is stable, reliable, and down-to-earth.

Unfortunately, our modern lives have caused most of us to lose touch with Mother Earth, to lose this connection. We spend more time inside…we are on our screens much of the time…we don’t walk around barefoot like we did as kids.

Simple But Powerful

One of the first things I teach a new patient – and one of the first exercises I teach in my Qigong courses and classes – is a simple grounding meditation. This exercise is powerful. Restoring the connection to the earth can result in dramatic changes and experiences.

A key to grounding is simple awareness. Through your breathing and gentle intention, you relax, center, and get calm inside. This helps open the channel to the earth’s energy.

Another key is to have a direct connection to the ground. Whenever possible, go outside and stand (or sit) with your bare feet solidly on the ground. Or you can sit on the ground with the bottoms of your feet and the palms of your hands touching the ground. If it’s cold out, wear socks or moccasins that don’t have a rubber or synthetic bottom.

A third key is to center your intention gently into your lower abdomen. Breathe in and out of this area. Allow your breath to become longer and fuller. But don’t strain or push. Just gently breathe in and out through your nose (which helps you relax) and be open to the connection with Mother Earth.

I teach an effective (and fun) grounding meditation and have included it in one of my courses, Breathing and Qigong for Health and Energy (click here for more information). This course provides the foundation for a wonderful, effective, and fun Qigong and Breathing practice. It’s taught in a short four weeks and will introduce you to a proven health and energy cultivation method impacting body, mind, and spirit, which hopefully becomes an ongoing, consistent practice you will enjoy and benefit from.

I’ll have more to say about Grounding and its impact on our physical, mental, and emotional health in future posts. In the meantime, give yourself the gift of breathing. And add the power of “plugging in” to Mother Earth through grounding.

You Can Do It!

Be Like the Winter Buddha

January 31, 2023kvanness01

“Winter is Coming?” No, Winter Is Here!

Finally, here in Central Texas, we’re experiencing winter weather. Ice, freezing rain, temps in the 30s and 20s. Not much snow, though.

So far it has been a very mild winter for us. When I have my Qigong classes perform exercises to support the Kidney organ system, as we do in Winter, it feels a little funny. However, it’s important that we follow the seasonality inherent in the Five Elements, or Five Elemental Phases, which help support our health AND the prevention of illness or disease.

If you’re not familiar with the Five Element Framework, here’s some background:

The Five Element Framework is ancient and deeply woven into the fabric of Chinese culture. Five Element theory is the foundation of Chinese disciplines such as feng shui, the martial arts, and the I Ching (The Book of Changes); and it provides a comprehensive template that organizes all natural phenomena into five master groups or patterns or phases in nature: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. From a health enhancement and medical perspective, the Five Element Framework provides a master blueprint that diagrams how nature interacts with the body and how the different dimensions of our being impact each other, as well as a diagnostic framework to recognize where imbalances in the body, mind, emotions, and spirit lie.

The Five Elements align with the five Yin organs (and their corresponding Yang organs) as well as with the seasons, as follows:

-METAL ELEMENT: Lung (Large Intestine), Fall

-WATER ELEMENT: Kidney (Bladder), Winter

-WOOD ELEMENT: Liver (Gall Bladder), Spring

-FIRE ELEMENT: Heart (Small Intestine), Summer (Heart also includes the Pericardium and Triple Warmer)

-EARTH ELEMENT: Spleen (Stomach), Late Summer (Spleen also includes the pancreas)

In our Qigong classes, we practice exercises from an ancient set of Dao Yin exercises (the Wu Xing Jing) which are similar to Qigong exercises. However, they were developed thousands of years ago and are thought to be precursors to Qigong. Certain Dao Yin forms have come down to us from ancient times and are still practiced today, although they may not be as well-known and therefore not taught as widely as Qigong. There is a specific exercise for each of the Yin organs (which therefore also benefits its Yang organ pair). The exercises have physiological benefits and help move internal energy to where it’s needed (or move it away from where it is excessive), help heal or maintain health of the organs, and open the energy pathways of the body. The movements of each exercise stimulate blood and lymphatic flow in a controlled and gentle manner. They bring vitality into the body and help keep us feeling vibrant and healthy.

The Kidney is the repository of our “Jing”, or pre-natal qi or essence. We are each born with a finite amount of Jing and it’s important to safeguard this precious resource. It is the reserve generator of energy in the body and supplies extra Qi to the other organs when necessary. From a western medical perspective, Jing Qi relates to our cellular DNA and our body’s hormonal reserves that support healthy aging.

The Kidney corresponds to a complex system of organs and structures including the reproductive system, the adrenal glands, the ears, the bones, and the brain.

Fear is the emotion associated with the Kidney. If you often have severe panic attacks, anxiety, and fear, or you’re just afraid to make a decision or go for something, or feel like you lack willpower — your Kidney energy may be running low or be imbalanced.

Balance and harmony in the Kidney manifests as courage or confidence, strong willpower and endurance or persistence. We can draw upon wisdom and our inner knowing to overcome our fears.

Winter is the season associated with the Kidney and its partner organ, the Bladder. During this season, we include specific exercises which focus on our Kidneys when performing our Qigong. We also eat foods that support the Kidneys, as well as adopt a slower pace. In fact, during winter, it’s important to slow down, conserve energy, sleep longer – in other words, go with nature and “hibernate’, renew, and get more rest.

So follow the example of the “Winter Buddha” (see above photo). It’s snowing, it’s cold, yet the Buddha maintains an impervious, quiescent state. But don’t let the apparent stillness or lack of activity fool you! Inside, Jing / Vital Energy is being replenished, old fears are being worked out and transformed, and the important systems such as the central nervous system (brain and spine), bones and marrow, and important hormones, are rebuilding.

This quiescent cycle will help restore your energy and reserves so you are ready to burst forth in the spring.

To learn more about the Five Elements DaoYin (Wu Xing Jing) including the full set of exercises, click here. Discover the master blueprint to a powerful health practice – in 6 short weeks!

Happy New Year! The Year of the Water Rabbit

January 23, 2023January 23, 2023kvanness01

Happy New Year – again!

This past weekend we celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year, and Sunday we began the Year of the Water Rabbit (January 22, 2023 to February 9, 2024).

This is an auspicious year because the Rabbit, the most positive sign of the Chinese Zodiac, symbolizes longevity, prosperity, and peace. The Rabbit is also considered a lucky sign. I’m particularly excited about this year because I am a Water Rabbit, so I feel like this will be an auspicious year for me. Lots to look forward to for all of us, especially as we come out of the Year of the Black Tiger with its sudden and rapid changes.

Of course, constant change is the natural state of the world. The more we can build our resilience and ability to adapt, the better we can harness the energies of change to help make our lives and our world better. The Year of the Water Rabbit brings an energetic shift enabling each of us to focus on our individual responsibilities and things that are important to us. This means, in part, that it’s a good year to turn your attentions inward, do some introspection, and consider what is truly meaningful to you. Work toward self-development and on improving yourself – including focusing on your health, both mental and physical.

This will be a wonderful year to focus on achieving personal goals. Put procrastination aside and use the energy of the Rabbit to get out of your old ruts or routines (that may not be serving you well) and move into action. Don’t get scattered by trying to solve all your problems. Rather, choose one or two areas for improvement or positive change and focus on them. Do a little day by day, week by week. Ride the energetic wave of the Rabbit which tends towards self-improvement.

One other key point: Listen to your intuition. This is always important, but especially so this year. The Rabbit is a curious animal BUT will instinctively move away from anything that doesn’t seem right to it. Honor your own internal wisdom – listen to that voice within – and go with what you think is right.

Special Considerations for Your Qigong

This year, focus on your Qigong and breathing to help improve your overall health. Attending Qigong class on a regular basis is a fantastic way to tap into the energy already inside you to help catalyze transformation at the physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual levels. Practice your centering and grounding to help you maintain an island of stability, even as you leverage the active and auspicious energies of the year to improve yourself. And be sure to share kindness and peace with the important people in your life.

Best wishes for a healthy and prosperous year!

You Can Do It!

Forget About Resolutions. Do This Instead

January 10, 2023kvanness01

Each New Year can feel like a new beginning. This man-made structure of the calendar, with its ritual ending of one year and beginning of another, serves most of us as a cue to take stock and reflect on the past 12 months…and think about what we want to manifest in the coming 12 months.

Many people make a New Year’s resolution – or multiple resolutions – at the beginning of each year. The expectation and potential of the new year combines with the reality that we came up short the previous year and propels us to think optimistically. “This year I will do it! This will be my year! This time I will stick to my diet / fitness program / new work habits / stop procrastinating / stop yelling at my kids” etc. etc.

Typically, these resolutions involve things we want to change about our lives in the coming year. Many folks start out strong. Unfortunately, as studies (and our own experience) have shown, most people drop their resolutions by about mid-February. In fact, it’s a truism in the fitness world that most gyms make their money on the people who sign up in late December or early January. The gyms are super crowded during the first four to six weeks of each new year, frustrating the regular gym-goers who now must compete with the newbies for the equipment or the spot in the group fitness class. However, by mid-February, the gyms are noticeably less crowded. Most of the newbies have stopped coming or come only occasionally. The regulars get back to their own routine and can snag the fitness class spot or piece of equipment they want with no problem.

If resolutions don’t work so well, what is a solution? What’s an alternative that works?

I encourage you to switch from making resolutions to setting intentions. An intention is a directed impulse of consciousness that contains the idea, the form of what you wish to create. Based on quantum physics, it is thought that each of our ideas or intentions broadcast out into the quantum realm of possibility, like the ripples or waves on the surface of the water that emanate out in all directions from the rock that you throw into the pond. Those waves of possibility move out to the future, charting a potential path for manifesting the reality of the intention into your life.

Some waves “bounce back” to us in the form of a material change in our lives. How successfully we manifest our intention depends on the strength of the wave we send out. The strength of the wave – whether a small ripple, a large surfing wave, or a tsunami – depends on two things: (1) How definite and clear our intention is – in other words, we have a clear, well-defined purpose or achievement or way of being; and (2) how much desire or emotion we have invested into that intention.

The wonderful thing about intentions is that they are not tied to the calendar. You may have an overall intention of getting into better shape, or feeling more energetic, or finally achieving a goal that has eluded you. And that’s great! Define it clearly AND allow the feeling associated with the intention to wash over you. Get enthusiastic about it. Feel as if you have already achieved it, or it has already come to you or happened to you. Bathe in that feeling and that vision regularly.

At the same time, set smaller intentions for each day that help support or feed into your larger intention. This is akin to setting “process” goals – or things you will do daily, weekly, or monthly, on a consistent basis – that help you accomplish your more substantial goals. When you link your bigger intentions to your daily activities, you keep that intention front and center. Each time you complete a task or smaller goal that supports a larger intention, you send out additional waves into the realm of possibility, further strengthening the probability that your intention will come true.

To have a momentous year, you don’t have to” set the world on fire”. You don’t need “massive action”. You simply need to go inside, take stock, consider what you really want – the thing or things with the most meaning to you – set the intention, and imbue it with feeling. Then set your supporting intentions and take the small, daily, consistent steps each day to help bring to fruition that which you wish to manifest in your life.

You Can Do It!

New Year. New Body. New Life

January 6, 2023kvanness01

Happy New Year!

The New Year provides an annual milestone and impetus to improve in the areas of your life that you are not satisfied with. It also provides a nice starting point for pushing to greater heights in those areas that are going well.

Despite the most heartfelt resolutions, many people don’t get off to a fresh start in the New year because they allow themselves to remain mired in the past. Past failures, past shortcomings, past heartbreaks. It’s easy to hold on to these and assume they are indicators of what the future holds.

It’s important to free yourself from the internal binds to the past. What happened in the past year, or in previous years, HAS happened. It is gone. Learn from your experiences, yes! But don’t let what has happened in the past – good or bad – prevent you from crafting the best possible now – and future now’s – for your life.

In the spirit of the Fresh Start, here are some thoughts to help you break loose and think with freedom, feel with optimism, and move with a light and joyful step through the coming year.

At a physical level, you are a BRAND NEW person. By the time you read this sentence, 100,000 cells in your body will have died and been replaced! Your entire body – all the tissues and structures – regenerates itself every 6 months. You are constantly dying and regenerating at the cellular, indeed the molecular level. Every new day brings new growth.

Whatever trauma, heartache or so-called failure that happened last year happened to the old you – the you that existed then. But why is it that we so often remain captive to the emotional hurts and bad habits of the past? Mentally and emotionally, we remain tethered by guilt, shame, and blame. When we should be following the lead of our physical selves and – let go.

The Bible says, “You are wonderfully and powerfully made.” You are a completely new you. You are wiser, more powerful, more capable. You are a survivor. So don’t remain chained to the emotional or physical hurts of the past. A new you greets this year. A future new you will finish this year. Let’s kick it off in fine fashion!

You Can Do It!

Karen