A safe harbor where beliefs are respected and kindness prevails.

Creating Happiness Through Health

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DF1Imagine what it would feel like to live a life of happiness, health, and well-being. Can you do that? Can you close your eyes and let yourself go to a time and place where you feel amazing vitality, strength, and a true sense of peace and happiness?

This is where it all starts. Right from where you are. No matter what is going on in your lives. Right here, right now, is the time to start the process of creating health and happiness for tomorrow.

What do you have in your life that you can be thankful for right now? There is so much you can’t even imagine. You just have to recognize it and stop rejecting it. Being present in this moment for what you do have will begin to bring more experiences into your life to be thankful for.

Yes, I am talking about gratitude. Since our time together is focused on health, fitness, and wellness, I will speak in those terms.

Maybe you don’t have the energy, body shape, health, or sense of well-being you are desiring; however, you still have plenty to be grateful for. See what you do have to work with as a gift, and take and mold yourself into someone spectacular.

Can you walk? Can you move your body? Are you able to put food on the table that is nutritious? Can you schedule time for exercise, meditation, and family? Do you have someone who will support and encourage you? (Yes you do; I am just a phone call away!)

Part of creating happiness in your life is creating health and fitness in your body.

When your body is strong and filled with vitality, you feel so much more confident and self empowered. You have the energy to step beyond the day’s normal activities and start following your passions.

When your body is healthy and strong, you are capable of so much more, and your spirit guides your thoughts into the expression of your full potential.

It is so true: “When you have your health, you have everything. When you do not have your health, nothing else matters at all.” Augusten, Burroughs

I have personally worked with many very successful people who were in such a state of pain and physical dysfunction that they could not see clear to feel happy or grateful for all that they had. Their lack of health pulled them down into fear and despair. Yet as we worked together, and as they began to create health and wellness, their enthusiasm for life returned, and they realized how precious health is to happiness.

Happiness comes out of a healthy spirit, mind, and body. We must give ourselves the spiritual, mental/emotional, and physical nutrition needed so we can radiate happiness from every cell in our body.

Spiritually, we must recognize we are the universal consciousness, or God, and we are here to live a life of abundance, happiness, and health. Then we need to claim this for ourselves by believing it and knowing we are capable of anything we can imagine.

Mentally/emotionally, we must focus our attention on knowing and feeling ourselves as that which we desire to be. When our thoughts and emotions drift towards the negative, we should recognize this and refocus our attention on our desires.

Physically, we must give our bodies abundant deep breathing, plenty of clean water, nutritious foods, the right amount of exercise, and plenty of sleep.

Happiness comes with a simple recipe: Love yourself enough to give your spirit, mind, and body what it needs in order to be healthy and to flourish.

By doing so, you will live a life that most will only dream of.

You deserve this, you know? You deserve to be happy, healthy, and well. No one outside of yourself can give this to you. You not only hold the key, but you are the key.

Unlock your potential of happiness, health, and wellness by starting today.

I am here to help you on this journey.

I wish for you Vibrant Health!

David E. Fresilli

The Positive Power of the PAUSE

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BL3Are you aware of your self-talk? It’s that little voice inside that is babbling to you and guiding your choices and actions. Are you telling yourself your life is fun, adventurous, and joyful? Or do you hear yourself say life is hard, a struggle, and a pain in the you know where? The tricky part is that sometimes this voice is deeply buried, and we are not even conscious of it. Dr. Rick Hansen, psychologist and meditation teacher, wrote a book titled “Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom.”He explains what’s possible when we PAUSE and become conscious of our self-talk.

“What modern science is enabling us to do is fantastic and unprecedented because this has never happened before in human history. By neuroscientists peering into the brain, we are starting to increasingly understand the circuits of happiness, love, and wisdom so that we can light up those circuits ourselves. And the way the brain works is, when you light up circuits, you actually strengthen them. There is a saying in neuroscience that ‘neurons that fire together, wire together.’So by stimulating the neuro-basis of happiness, love, and wisdom, you strengthen it so you become centered there and feel increasingly happy, resilient, confident, and caring for others.”

He goes on to say that PAUSING for 30 seconds and actively focusing on positive things will help to rewire the circuit of happiness, love, and wisdom. I loved it that he said 30 seconds. Simple steps can make a big difference. Imagine, only a half minute of intentional focus each day can increase pleasure and happiness.

That focus combined with surrounding yourself with more positive media is helping. Magazines like this one are converting a media focused on sensationalism to a media focused on a sensational and wonderful life of peace and happiness. As we get positive input in places where negative images, news stories, and information have lived, we will be able to create greater health, attract healthier relationships, and nourish our planet.

PAUSE is necessary for us to master and recognize our self-talk. When we stop to notice the voices and become aware of our thoughts, we begin to hear deeper voices. My friend Gerald shared a childhood story with me that illustrates this point with nature. He would go down by the river and sit quietly, communing with the insects and the bugs. He said the longer he quietly sat there, the more different kinds of insects would appear until he was surrounded by spiders, frogs, ants, etc. People who commit to silent meditation retreats will have the experience of more and more inner wisdom being revealed as the days of quiet go by. As you practice the 30-second PAUSE, you will get proficient at accessing the deeper voices and the resulting pleasure.

Another place to reinforce those happiness neurons is by changing what you write in your journal. Consider what your journals contain now. Are they filled with dramas and traumas and all the struggles that you wrote down to process the struggle? To stay on the path of positivity, keep gratitude journals. Keep journals about all your victories. Writing about what’s working well, talking about what’s working well, and thinking about what’s working well creates the intention for things to work well, and then it is easier to manifest things working well.

I’m going to be totally honest with you here. I have had a few days in the last couple years when finding something in my life that felt like it was working well was very difficult. So I’m not here to say that your goal should be a life of perfect pleasure 24/7. Choosing the way of pleasure is the consciousness I live in, and I have even been able to find moments of pleasure when I experience the severe physical pain of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Pain, which contrasts with pleasure, allows you to appreciate painless pleasure. Experiencing the highs and lows creates extraordinary times as long as you return to noticing what works well.

“Eighty percent of what you tell yourself, you believe.”This quote is from my radio guest, Marci Lock. She is President of MarciLock.com and Everlasting Fitness. Marci’s story of losing 70 lbs in three months, with results lasting over six years, has motivated her to become a transformational coach who speaks and teaches her clients how to change their self-talk to boost positive beliefs. When you notice what is working in your life, your belief system changes right along with it.

In order to practice these ideas, I invite you to do the following for at least 2 weeks.

WRITE down 12 things that went well at the end of the day before you get in bed.

Here is a sample list of mine:

  • I’m able to take such a nice deep breath.
  • I love the way my bangs fall right on my forehead.
  • I am feeling good about my exercise.
  • The new lotion is working on my red spots.
  • Made a basket throwing Kleenex in the trash.
  • My chili relleno casserole was a hit.
  • I completed chapter 5 today.
  • My half-hour nap came at just the right time.
  • I washed my sheets today, and they feel wonderful.
  • I felt sexy and hot in my halter dress.
  • My car started and has been so reliable getting me where I need to go.
  • My client base is expanding.

Keep it Simple!

I Choose Happiness

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RobdorganIn 2011 my partner and I left our jobs of 12 years to start a new life adventure. We both worked for the same manufacturing company and it was time to either buy the company or move on to something new. Before we took the positions we had seriously considered going to massage school. We had even shopped around and decided on a holistic school in New Mexico. We originally took the jobs at our friend’s business thinking that we would stay long enough to make the tuition with a little cushion. But as we like to say, “Life Happened.” The jobs were challenging and rewarding. Then we took care of aging parents. Before we knew it we were there for 12 years.

So facing 50 and beyond we felt it was time to try something new and follow our hearts to be of service in the holistic arts. Wow! I had no idea how comfortable I had become with a steady pay check and security as I saw it. As the time came for our amicable departure, I started to freak out. I became disoriented and very unsure about what we were doing and questioning whether or not I could do the next step— school.

I had this low grade fear that just hung on me like a ball and chain. My mind was constantly thinking about it no matter what I was doing. Interesting to me and my partner, was the fact that I had always been the one pushing us to do something different, take chances and jump head first, but now, I was immobilized. I was not able to access happy at all in my life because I was living in Fear with a capital F.

We kept with the plan and moved from our Kentucky home to New Mexico to study massage and natural therapeutics. I had something to focus on which was a great relief. The school experience was fantastic. We had never been in school together. We excelled not only in the program but with each other. We bonded even more deeply in our personal relationship. We saw new dimensions of each other that just opened our hearts up wide.

It really seemed like I had turned a corner. I was “my self” in New Mexico. Ten months later, with degree in-hand, we returned home. The cloud descended thicker and heavier than ever and the fear returned. Sure, we had new skills but no clients and very little money coming in. I felt like a negativity sponge. There was no silver lining in anything. For the first time in my life I seriously considered antidepressants. I was not happy. Nor did I see myself being happy in the near future.

Two days before Christmas and one week before our vacation to Key West in 2012 I jumped for a pull up bar at the gym. I was still recovering from the flu and had ignored my intuitive voice that morning that told me to skip the trainer and let myself heal. I jumped. I missed with the left arm and did not let go fast enough with the right arm. POP! I pulled the bicep tendon right off the bone. I knew it was something major. My right arm looked very different from the left – not to mention the discomfort and the very concerned look on my trainers face. It was at that very moment I heard a voice inside my head say, “you have to change this course you’re on.” I knew exactly what the voice meant. I had a choice. I knew I was pulling negativity to me. I saw only dark so I was manifesting dark.

In the 24 hours between seeing my doctor and the surgeon. I observed a tug of war in my mind and body between deciding to be happy or unhappy. I cried a lot that day. I was scared of where I was headed. I realized that I wanted so badly to be happy. I missed loving life. I felt that this was a cross-road. I got on the internet, with the help of my good arm and pulled up every positive thinking, inspirational website I could find. I started reading books that encouraged me. Within hours I felt a shift. There was still a struggle inside me between the martyr and the part of me that wanted to be truly happy. But at least I felt two sides instead of just the bleak dark cloud I had lived in for two years.

I opened myself up to possibilities. I found a juicing site where the guy was talking about what vegetables to juice for a quicker recovery. So we bought a juicer and tons of vegetables. The first surgeon I saw was not a specialist with my injury but he got his colleague to see me that very day. He was exactly who I needed. I not only wanted my bicep fixed I wanted to be 100% so I could get my massage business off the ground, keep up with my yoga practice and still work out.

I told my friends that I needed help. I needed them to be up and positive and to spoon feed me the same. I had to cut a few people out of my life. I was honest. I did not have the time or energy to deal with the power of being unhappy. You know who I am talking about— the people you have around that no matter what is going on they are just miserable. I felt for them because I had been there. But I wasn’t strong enough at that point to help anyone. I needed to help myself first and foremost.

My life for those two years had been a perfect storm for bringing on unhappiness. Major life changes have us face our selves and our fears. My wake up call was a physical injury that put my new life as a massage therapist, yoga teacher and personal trainer on hold for more than three months. But I started to look at it as an opportunity to learn other things. I took my meditation practice to a completely different level. I had always made excuses for not meditating longer because of time. Now time was all that I had. Meditation helped me take a deeper journey of self discovery. How had I become so unhappy in the first place? What were the fears that were holding me back? How did I lose the sense of who I am and what I am capable of doing?

My journey to choosing happiness had me turn off the TV, abstain from almost all media and surround myself with everything that encouraged me to live and grow stronger in body, mind and spirit. There is no vaccine against negativity but a prescription of love, goodness and a strong dose of living in the “Happy” can turn your life around. Our lives are how we perceive them. Our perception is influenced by what we take into us. So breathe deep and take in all the goodness you can find. Limit your intake of negativity. Strengthen your relationship with yourself by deepening the love you have for YOU. The people in your life will benefit from it too because the happier you are and the more you love you—— the more love you have to share. Believe it! You can do it too. Namaste.

Rob Dorgan

In With T he Old: A Contrarian’s Approach

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Fotolia_56844810_Subscription_Monthly_MI’ve never liked the idea of Spring Cleaning. First, I have terrible allergies, so cleaning around dust is a physical hell to me. But this, while weighty, is the superficial part of the equation. Far more substantial is the reason why a Spring Cleaning might even be necessary.

What transpired during your winter to create such a mess? Were you homebound and frantically destroying your home? Were you hibernating so deeply that nothing was tended to? Were you in a creative frenzy and paint and chalk and clay are covering your walls?

To me, it seems artificial. While I sympathize with all my friends suffering in the Polar Vortex of 2013/14, we just don’t hibernate any more. Now we simply seem to distract ourselves with Facebook and movies on Hulu or Netflix. Few of us are going to sleep at sunset and rising at dawn to milk the cows, so there’s no reason for your home to be a complete nightmare. Short of depression, of course. And I don’t say that lightly, even if a little tongue in cheek. If wintertime depresses you so, then please take a sunny holiday next year, do some UV tanning or get a better therapist. We must never allow our environments to trap us.

This comes to the crux of the issue for me. “Out with the Old” is what most people seem to say about springtime. But what was Old about Wintertime? If you read my last article, you’ll remember that I always encourage taking the holiday spirit with you into the New Year, and not letting that sense of wonder, fun and pure joy dissipate. If that’s the case, there would be no reason for getting rid of the old, or cleaning out your home of its wintry heaviness.

What is the problem with the Old? Did all of the nostalgia of the holidays and, hopefully, the joy surrounding it allow you to delve too far into the past? Did it throw off the balance of the present? Did you have too much fun?

Here’s the key. I’ve been doing a lot of scientific research lately about how we create our own reality. Mostly, it comes down to maintaining awareness in our daily lives. Self-awareness is the next step where we can gain some perspective of our current situations and start making real, conscious decisions about whether or not we’re happy being in these situations. Once awareness is actively engaged, we can start to really LIVE in the present.

The only reasonable next step is simple: Purpose. We are called all of the time to live our Purpose. Many of us choose to ignore the call. Some of us only respond to bits of the call, the ones we were raised with or that seemed to be pre-programmed into us. That is, the ones that are simply comfortable to us. Many of you reading this are seeking a fuller purpose, and I congratulate you. Fulfillment, perhaps even Enlightenment, is what you choose to discover. What is your Purpose then?

And this is what rubs me wrong about “Out with the Old.” We are, all of us, evolving. Hopefully, we are growing wiser from our experiences, making strong, better decisions and experimenting more with creating our own realities instead of perpetuating humdrum routines. The “Old” must be celebrated, and built upon. I don’t ever want to throw it out, unless of course it’s holding me back.

But one season in the year (i.e. Spring) is not an indication that something is stopping my evolution. Ok, you might call it a reminder. I would reply that it is still artificial. If you don’t want to clean because it’s Spring, then don’t. Continue to read, cook, ski, hike – whatever it is you love to do. The only time that you must undertake something like this is when you are sincerely called to do so, by your inner higher power, because it deeply serves your Purpose.

And for the love of Life, don’t throw out the Old. Unless it truly doesn’t serve you. Celebrate the
Old, thank the Old, learn and grow from the Old. And let that provide you the roots to stay completely, fully present.  In with the Old, I say, and keep doing what you love to do today. Happy Spring.

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