Butterfly Balance Wellness Center

Fully Alive

I will not die an unlived life.
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible,
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance;
to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom
and that which came to me as blossom,
goes on as fruit.

Poem: Fully Alive by Dawna Markova

I've been cleaning out my inbox and found this poem that I sent myself 10 months ago so I could post it on my blog. I had long forgotten about it, but it touched me this morning as it did the first time I read it. I knew it had to be shared and hope it will touch you also.

What one thing can you do today to feel Fully Alive? To not die an unlived life?

Simplifying: Far From Simple, Isn't it?

It seems that the more that I want to "simplify" my life, the less simple it gets. My home is a cluttered mess. I've been paying so much attention to taking care of myself personally through diet and exercise that I kinda forgot about the squalor surrounding me.

Clutter, while bad for many reasons, is also not good for energy purposes - it just bogs down the flow of good life energy through your home and through your life. Makes sense to say that you don't have the energy to clean sometimes. I think that to get rid of clutter also makes room for more good (non-material) stuff in our lives.

I found it interesting that as I sat here contemplating where to begin with this mess, that several friends started talking about decluttering and then I got two interesting emails (notification of new blog posts) that related to it as well. I think the Universe is trying to tell me something!  :)

Zen Habits is a blog that I try to read somewhat regularly. Look at this great description on its "About" page:

"Zen Habits is about finding simplicity in the daily chaos of our lives. It’s about clearing the clutter so we can focus on what’s important, create something amazing, find happiness."

I try to read this regularly, but ironically, the emails get caught in the clutter of my inbox.  Cleaning 1,000+ emails from my inbox let me focus on these gems I wanted to share with you.

In the recent post How to Simplify When You Love Your Stuff, I love this section:

"But let’s be real here. In spite of embracing the concept of simplicity, most people really love their stuff, and they love acquiring more stuff. Like our attitudes about a healthy diet, our feelings about material things are complicated. We know what’s good for us, but we just don’t want to give up what we like. Our stuff makes us feel good.

Is it possible to live a simple life and still love stuff? How much letting go of stuff really counts toward simplifying anyway?"

You can read the answers to that here.

This post on The Clean-Slate Guide to Simplicity scared me! I am uncomfortable with the concept of feeling like I'm missing something, even if I'm not actually missing it. Probably has more to do with being somewhat of a control freak. :) I bet there's a Health Kinesiology correction I should do for that!

"Simplifying Backwards is Easier

If you’re having trouble deciding when to hold on to something and when to let it go, try doing things backward. Learn to add responsibly instead of subtracting."

He then shares several steps which, essentially, tell you to take all your clutter, get rid of it, and then as you find yourself missing something, go get it. You can read the post here.

If that makes absolute sense, why do I feel like I want to hyperventilate when I read that? :)

Do you deal with clutter/lack of simplicity in your life? Do either of these posts help at all? I'd love to hear your methods for simplifying in your own life.

Chanelling Biggest Loser's Jillian, or Kicking My Own Butt with HK

If you've ever seen The Biggest Loser TV show, you're familiar with Jillian Michaels - the personal trainer who, at first glance, seems like the cruelest, craziest person on earth, but wow does she get results in terms of helping people change their lives (relating to exercise, weight loss, eating habits and personal growth). She's the person that you'd most dread to see show up at your front door, but if you were serious about making changes and want help, she's the best person to get you there.

On Saturday something came over me and I started channeling Jillian Michaels in the gym. Good thing I was alone in there. :) So, how did that come about, you ask?

Saturday morning I was over at my office doing a Health Kinesiology session on myself. That's one of the things I love about HK:  that I can do my own sessions. One of the top things that my body said (using muscle testing) needed to be worked on was an exercise routine. I love to exercise and highly recommend Snap Fitness here in West Seattle. But I am admittedly inconsistent with my attendance when life gets in the way, and when I am there I tend to protect myself and not push as hard as I might be able to. A large theme of my personal HK session was protecting myself (and why it doesn't serve me), and the exercise work-up was no exception.

One thing about Health Kinesiology is that things don't usually come up as a body priority until you're ready to deal with it (and have dealt with other issues previously that might be holding you back from it). Working up exercise in HK consists of finding out what a person's body considers ideal types of exercise, how much to do, and how often. The type of exercise I chose didn't surprise me since it's what I usually do anyway and enjoy - weight machines and the Arc Trainer and recumbent bike for cardio. The amount of exercise did surprise me though, and I had to trust that if my body came up with it, it was possible.

I headed to the gym right after my session to try out my new workout. I was charged with doubling my weight workout - not the actual weight, but doing two sets of 12 where I previously did one. And I was supposed to nearly triple my cardio. It was feeling a bit impossible, I'll admit.

After a cardio warm-up I did my weights. Right from the start, it was challenging. I tried my second set of bicep curls and came up short. I was ready to give up and go to the next one. But something came over me -- the realization that I was protecting myself by not pushing as hard as I could and not having enough faith in myself, and living in fear of hurting myself, when my real fear is probably of my success.

As I mentioned, I was alone in the gym. So I started channeling Jillian Michaels and was yelling at myself out loud!  Not berating myself, but being encouraging.  Reminding myself that people on the Biggest Loser have weighed 200 pounds more than me, and have done 10 times the exercise! So stop playing games and DO it!!

If anybody walked in, they'd think I'd lost my mind. Hey, maybe I did. :)  But you know what, I did it!  I did every single thing I set out to do and I felt great about it. The accomplishment was absolutely amazing in that 90 minute session.  I was back at the gym the next 2 nights (just for a 15 min. bike ride each night), and tonight I did the entire 90 minute workout again.

I'm finally having faith in myself that I can do this . . . that I can get fit and have fun doing it while trusting what my body tells me I'm capable of.

What are YOU capable of, but just can't hear your body telling you? We can work together to let you hear your body's own voice and the power that lies within.

(90 min. sessions are still buy one/get one free through July 15!)

Improving the World

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a
single moment before starting to improve the world"
 ~ Anne Frank

What is one thing that you can do right now to help "improve the world"?

Do you think that improving yourself counts? You're part of the world, aren't you? Wouldn't living to your highest potential also help the world? What does "improving the world" mean to you?

Everything in the world is made up of energy. We all interact with everything around us on an energetic level and are far more intertwined than you might imagine. Sometimes it's easy to think of ourselves as being alone, and that our actions make no difference to anyone or anything around us.

Tonight Phil and I are going to attend a blessing ceremony for the Duwamish Waterway - you can find more information about this by clicking here. It promises to be an "hour of Reiki, Peruvian shamanism, gong, Native American flute and a special crystal singing bowl ritual to bless the waters of the Duwamish River." This is my contribution to improving the world today.

What will you do?

The Secret Powers of Time

Fascinating animated video from Professor Philip Zimbardo conveying how our individual perspectives of time affect our work, health and well-being. He says that time influences who we are as a person, how we view relationships and how we act in the world.

When I first started watching it, I had a very definite idea of which "time zone" I lived in (as defined by the video), but as it went on, I realized that it definitely wasn't as cut and dry as that, and it really made me think about how I look at the world, and how much of that is influenced by my surroundings, upbringing, family, etc.

How does watching this change your own perspective on yourself and your "time zone"? Is it possible to change your "time zone" to make it reflect more of the person you would like to be?

The Business Side of Healing

As a healer, all I've wanted to do is get out there and work with people to help them heal and be the very best they can be. My impulsive Aries nature would agree - just get out there and do it already! For better or worse, the part of me that's worked in corporate law for 29 years (that long? really?) knows better, and knows that there is a practical business side to all of it as well.

When I talk about  business, I'm not talking about the money making aspect of business. Sure, that's nice too - I plan on supporting myself with my passion. But there are certain legalities in terms of running a business, and all that stuff has had me bogged down for a bit, making my creativity and passion take a back seat.

My background in corporate law has been most helpful in terms of leading me to the correct resources. Seattle SCORE, affiliated with the US Small Business Administration, gives personal, one-on-one counseling to small business owners (or people considering small business), and best of all it's free. If you're not in Seattle, you can find their national site here and search by zip code.

I am thrilled to announce that I am now officially licensed by the State of Washington and the City of Seattle to do business legally under the name Butterfly Balance! Today I also set up my bank accounts for my business. It was so important for me to work in integrity - to do things legally, and to pay taxes on the money I earn. 

Now that most of that pesky business stuff is out of the way, now I can focus my attention on helping people and getting the word out about my practice.

Stay tuned for an announcement soon about the Butterfly Balance Open House!

Healer, Heal Thyself

Why is it human nature that when others are in need, we'll bend over backwards to take care of them, but when its *our* turn to be taken care of, we instead neglect ourselves and make things worse? I am convinced that if we treated others like we treat ourselves, we'd have no friends.  :)

I've been feeling under the weather for about 3 days now. That's when all self-care went out the window, and I decided that poor me "deserved" a trip through a fast food drive-thru for some "comfort food." A friend of mine once told me that she believed the body tends towards health until something gets in its way. Well, I had somehow already gotten in the way of health - no doubt by burning the candle at both ends - and then unconsciously decided that I would continue to get in the way of my health. Of course, if a friend or a client did that, I would counsel them to be gentle to him/herself, let it go, and start from where they were. But since I'm talking about myself, I then went into "beat up" mode - far from "being gentle with myself" - and continued my spiral of feeling I somehow "deserved" to continue to do unhealthy things because it would make me feel better.

It's so much easier to see it when it's happening to someone else, isn't it? I laugh at myself a lot when I figure things out. :)

Better late than never, I came home from work and decided that the self-care needed to begin now. I canceled plans to go to a networking event, cleared my calendar of client appointments for the next few days, and headed over to my office to do a Health Kinesiology session for myself. I made plans for some self-care over the next few days - I started using Young Living's Thieves Oil, which is a blend of clove, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus radiata and rosemary oils. Those with sensitive skin should dilute Thieves. I rubbed some on the bottom of my feet before bed last night, rubbed some on my chest this morning before work, and gargled with some (diluted in water) for my sore throat. The oils in Thieves have antiseptic properties and may help with germs/colds/immunity. Here is a link to a booklet about Thieves and its uses.

I then diffused Young Living's Raven Oil, which is a blend of ravensara, lemon, wintergreen, peppermint and eucalyptus radiata oils. I think of it as the Vicks Vapor Rub of essential oils. :) I love the smell of it, and it is said to help with respiratory illness relief. I've used it in the past with great success.

I made sure I went to bed last night early so I could let my body rest and get some quality sleep. I made plans to start feeding my body healthy, nourishing foods and supplements to aid in my healing.

If you've ever flown in an airplane, you've no doubt heard during the safety announcements that in an emergency they urge parents to put on their own oxygen mask before tending to their children. Without your own oxygen mask in place, you are useless to others. I encourage all of us to put on our own oxygen masks in terms of self-care so we can be the best that we can be; we deserve no less!

Getting sick is a wake-up call for me that something is out of balance. I will need to sit with that and make a plan - not just for getting well, but staying that way.

What plans do you have for self-care and staying in balance?

Is This The Way Things Were Meant To Be?

Charlie Thistle has worked 20 years at the Department of Normality. One gray day fades into the next until one night he wrestles with the question, "Is this the way things were meant to be?"

I receive DVDs each month from Spiritual Cinema Circle. To borrow words from their website, each DVDs". . . includes a mixture of features, shorts and documentaries that explore spirit, spirituality, existence, morality, compassion, the power of the mind, metaphysics and other enriching topics that take your personal journey further."

Here is a link to a short movie called Charlie Thistle, as described above. The link will ask you to sign up for their service. There is no obligation to do so in order to watch the film, nor do I get any incentive for passing this information on to you. I am sharing it because I thought it was an interesting, short film about what can happen when we step outside of our comfort zone.  I also love the films I receive each month from Spiritual Cinema Circle and would recommend checking it out. If you're a person who enjoys what I share here on my blog, you might enjoy this as well.

I've always been a person that others have described as "marching to the beat of a different drummer." I think it's part of  living in integrity to follow your own path. And once you do, it's hard to go back to "normal" - or others' perception of what is allegedly normal. Charlie Thistle's experience echoes this as well.

Hope you enjoy the film. Let me know what you think of it.

Newsflash: My Cat Eats Better Than Me!

I was reading one of my favorite magazines, Body and Soul, and saw an ad for Wellness pet food, which is the only brand that I feed my kitty, Olias. This ad said, in part:

True Wellness
comes from an ideal nutritional balance – never ‘empty calories’

True Wellness
is about being more than natural – Every ingredient has a purpose.

True Wellness
means real quality control – only trustworthy sources.

True Wellness
comes from carefully chosen, authentic ingredients.

These are the reasons I feed this food to my cat. I want him to eat wholesome, human-quality food. Look at that sweet face over there; doesn't he deserve that? But when I read this ad, I realized that there's a bit of a problem when my cat is eating better than me!

There's no reason I can't eat like this; don't I deserve that too? I know the convenience food that I eat is not always good for me, even the stuff I buy at the health food store. But, like many people, I'll make the excuse that I'm busy or tired, or I want to go out for a junk food "treat."  I go long periods of time where I eat so well, and then life seems to get in the way and I revert to old habits. It's frustrating.

Reading this ad was a huge newsflash to me. Don't I deserve to treat myself as well as I treat my cat? Seriously? Don't we all?

My health kinesiology practitioner recently did a personalized nutrition work-up for me using muscle testing, and let me know what my body wanted to eat (and not eat) to help me function at my best. Real food - nutritious fruit, vegetables, proteins, grains. My body didn't ask for a bag of potato chips and a chai latte (imagine that!). This is why I started making changes like not eating dairy anymore, and no red meat - because my body asked for it. So sometimes I feel like I'm taking one step forward and two steps back. But it's a work in progress, and I haven't given up, so that's a good thing.

My baby step today was to skip my morning latte and instead eat a piece of fruit. What's one step you can take today towards treating yourself the way you deserve to be treated?

Ode to Joy

I've been thinking a lot about the concept of joy today. And certainly not because I'm having a particularly joyful day. :)

I'll admit that a lot of what I do in life does not come under the category of "joy." It's more like a series of obligations and tasks that make me want to drag my feet, rather than kicking up my heels and dancing about.

Last Saturday I spent about 5 hours lost in concentration, working on something that brought me great joy. That time passed with the snap of a finger - I didn't even realize it had been that long (and was grateful that the people monitoring that "2 hour parking zone" were not paying attention either).

Why is it so hard to find joy? Actually, after typing that, I realized that the real question is: why is it so hard to SEE joy?  There's really joy all around us if we shift our attitude, isn't there?

Life is really too short to dwell on drudgery and later on regrets for what wasn't experienced in our lifetime.

What is one thing you can see as joyful today?