In this issue:
What's New:
A change to our normal third Tuesday of the Month Women's Circle . This month Women's circle will be held on Tuesday October 11, 2005
Quote of the month:
You can tell what you believe by what you get.
- Alan Cohen
What a wonderful quote to remind us to be aware of what we think. Look around you. Does your environment reflect your thoughts? Does you well-being reflect what you think?
Current events:
Women's Circle:
Come and join us and invite your friends to our ongoing monthly women's circle held the third Tuesday of every month. Take the opportunity to learn, listen, share and laugh. The evening focuses on women's challenges, strategies and energizing exercises to promote happiness and well being.
The next Women's Circle is on October 11, 2005 from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm at 190 Robert Speck Parkway in Mississauga. As part of our 9 step series on Creating and Manifesting Well-Being, our topic for this Women's Circle is:
"Are you open to receive the well-being you deserve?" click here to register
Women's Retreat
The Women’s Renewal Circle Weekend
“Be Inspired to Re-Create Yourself Retreat for Women"
A weekend just for you: to relax, rejuvenate and energize yourself.
A weekend of self-discovery, to spark your creative impulse, to move forward in your life towards well-being on all levels. Click here for more information and to register
Relationship Renewal
A 4-week course for couplesthat benefits the relationship... click here for more information
Article of the Month
When It's Time to Hit the Reset Button
Written by Anne Bourke
Are you aware that when you experience stress for prolonged periods of time that it takes a toll on your well-being? This summer I was grateful to spend three weeks at my cottage where the loudest sounds were the distant chainsaw and lawnmower noises or the scolding of two hummingbirds that wouldn’t share the same feeder!
Driving home, I was very surprised by my unusual level of anxiety driving down the 401. I was so aware of the noise of the trucks, the amount of traffic and focus required to be cautious. And on my first night home it seemed that I heard every airplane that took off and landed! I realized first hand the stressors we experience each day in our lives that we take for granted as normal. Yet my body was very aware of the stress in our daily environment.
Have you ever experienced the same realization?
If you have become ill recently and/or you realize that you experience a lifestyle of extended stress, then it is time to redirect some aspects of your life. Hit the reset button because long-term stress really can cause disease.
Illness serves as a profound wake up call: “Change Your Life Patterns!!”
We need to understand the serious consequences of some of our unhealthy life patterns. We tend to think of disease that manifests at the cellular level as being caused by a physical ailment; yet, emotional blocks create physical symptoms, too.
What are some of these crises of the soul?
When our life loses its meaning, when we are overcome with strong emotions of grief, guilt, hatred, or fear, when we lose our self-worth and personal dignity, and when we live each day with an unforgiving heart, our soul needs some serious help.
What are some of these significant and persistent stress patterns that we need to take seriously?
- We may live with stress for years because of unresolved issues and intense energy-depleting feelings. The emotional pain may be long standing, such as a childhood issue or debilitating, such as an addiction.
- Our belief systems may be top heavy with negative, fear-based beliefs that take over our thinking and our perceptions, which are highly influential in the onset of disease.
- Our inability to give and receive love is a major influence on becoming ill. Love is a central force in our lives and when
there is a disconnection of this love in a significant relationship or a family, often the physical body develops symptoms. Anyone who lives without love, human warmth and kindness may experience physical illness.
- We may have difficulty distinguishing between serious troubles and less significant life concerns. It is important to prioritize life’s difficulties and learn to let go of the “small stuff”.
- We may take too much control and keep rigid rules about how our lives should be. While we need to manage and regulate aspects of our lives, we also need to take part in the natural give and take of life,
to be flexible, and to live by the words of the serenity prayer. Also being assertive about our needs and feeling that we have a voice in making our own choices increases our well-being.
What are some of the ways to create and support health and well-being despite our human responses to life’s difficulties?
A healing path begins with the heart’s intervention, by improving positive regard for ourselves and making our needs, in all areas, our responsibility and our journey of self-love.
Also, we need to let our intense emotions rise up and allow ourselves to experience them without self-judgment, or initiating an angry response towards another or attempts to put rational thought in place, for the moment.
Don’t move! Just let the feeling wash over you. Later, you may wish to speak about your feelings, write them down through journaling or in the format of a grieving letter and then perhaps make changes to eliminate the cause of the intense feelings. Laughter is a healing tool and finding time to laugh, and play is essential to creating endorphins that produce a feeling of well-being and vitality.
Build a “be in the present” timeframe into your lifestyle. Find activities that allow you to be in the moment and think reflectively: watching a bird at a feeder, smelling the fragrance of flowers or touching different textures in nature.
Creative visualization is a useful method to use your imagination and see in your mind’s eye, a healthy you, now! See yourself in the present as completely healthy, feeling peaceful and serene. Deep breathe using tranquil music, a comfortable resting place and relax!
There are numerous resources in the community who can guide and influence your healing path:
- Intensive healing workshops
- EMDR counsellors
- Body workers who practice an integrated therapy, connecting emotional and physical states.
There are several recommended books that are useful guideposts on your path. Check the list below.
Question of the Month:
Have you laughed today?
Recommended book:
The Journey by Brandon Bays and the CD is a helpful tool to do the emotional work.
The Creation of Health by Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph. D., and Caroline Myss, Ph. D.
You Can Heal Your Life and Heal Your Body by Louise Hay
Upcoming Events:
Self-development Course
A 4 week group interactive course that provides self-awareness and understanding of your anger style, the purpose of your anger, naming your stressors and practicing constructive strategies to make changes at all levels: mentally, physiologically and emotionally. ... for more info, click here
Facilitators: Anne Bourke and Paul Morgan |
