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Overcoming Burnout & Aligning with Breath

Our body, mind, and spirit are constantly experiencing the wonders and stresses of everyday life. When we have sufficient time and energy to meet those experiences, our self can exist in a state of balance. However, if our ability to complete the items on our to-do lists becomes compromised, it’s likely burnout is soon to follow. Overwhelming our schedules or staying in toxic environments has a profound effect on our wellbeing.

The human body can endure a lot of stress, inflammation, and general irritation before shutting down. While many of us may have experienced burnout on a number of occasions, it’s actually a late-stage reaction to profound imbalance. If we want to reduce the likelihood of reaching that point of forced healing, we have to commit to taking care of ourselves.

What is burnout?

According to the psychologist Herbert Freudenberger, burnout describes a severe stress condition that leads to severe physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. It’s not the same as ordinary fatigue or general tiredness. Burnout isn’t remedied by an extra hour of sleep; rather, it can lead to serious health consequences if left untreated.

Career-induced burnout is the most common form of exhaustion. But, it’s entirely possible to be left feeling empty from prolonged stressful familial or academic responsibilities. Some signs of burnout include fatigue, isolation, fantasizing about escaping, and constant irritability. Feeling ill for unusual periods of time, detachment, hopelessness, and a complete loss of motivation are also warning signs. In so many aspects of an individualist, production-orientated society, it’s easy to get lost in excessive drive and ambition. But, breathwork and mindfulness practices offer us a pragmatic approach to restoring balance to our life.

Aligning body, mind, & spirit with breath

Eventually, we will need to assess how the most significant commitments in our lives, like work and finances, contribute to physical and emotional exhaustion. Simplifying our schedules is the first step towards self—care. Taking time to eliminate nonessential extracurricular activities, nourishes the entire self. We must prioritize healing practices, such as breathwork, meditation, and movement to refuel energetic levels. Even dedicating a few minutes daily to mindful breathing practices helps unravel built-up stress in the spiritual and physical body. Additionally, reconnecting in vulnerability with loved ones is a great method for healing the energetic depletion from burnout. Spending time in nature, focusing on nutrition, and sufficient sleep habits won’t hurt your self-care either!

Final thoughts

Burnout is serious and, despite what hustle-culture perpetuates, will not go away on its own. Grounding ourselves with breathwork and reprioritizing intersectional health can help us heal from burnout and prevent it from happening in the future.

 

Learn More

Whether you are local to Grand Rapids and can join me at my East Town office The Healing Space or you are somewhere else in the world. Allow me to guide you in this experience of transformative healing.

All of my Breathwork sessions are combined with Reiki Energy Therapy, Crystals, a Holistic Health Consultation & recommendations in-between sessions with healing tools so you can continue empowering your own journey. Learn more about my in-person + virtual offerings HERE.

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Intuitive Boundaries in Pregnancy

My boundaries have been tested time and time again in this pregnancy. Thankfully, saying “no” and speaking up for myself feels much easier when I’m not only advocating for myself but another being.

Many of you know my history with allopathic medicine and hitting wall after wall with doctors. It truly wasn’t until I took responsibility for my healing journey that I witnessed progress for the first time.

In the early months of this journey, I began to hit the same walls with the hospital system and even some doulas and midwives that are supposedly holistically minded. It instantly brought me back to that sense of distrust, disappointment, frustration, and anger I felt while trying to heal in my twenties. I was not feeling fully heard, understood, or seen as a human going through a massive transition and growing another life.

The Change

I prayed for guidance, and suddenly events unfolded that left me leaving the care I had for the initial seven months. I stood up for my body, what I wanted from my experience, and my baby.

It took a lot of courage to speak up and set these boundaries. So many think they have no choice — that going through a traditional medical system is the only way. I believe you have to find the path that makes you feel the most empowered, safe, nurtured, and fully respected along the way. That looks different for all of us, but I’m taking the road less traveled in this specific journey, guided by intuition.

It’s been one of the greatest lessons in surrender and letting go. And ultimately, this birth could unfold in so many ways. As I enter into the unknown, I’m completely humbled by the innate wisdom my body holds.

The Present

My gratitude for the women who came before me continues to grow each day. The courage of those who paved the transformation into motherhood while still following their dreams serves to inspire my spirit unequivocably.

On my way to following my dream of transitioning solely to group work, podcasting, retreats, and courses, we are selling our home, moving into an apartment, buying land, and starting a family all at once. It’s been the wildest and most expansive journey as I’ve stretched to let go, surrender and trust over and over.

Furthermore, over this pregnancy, my sensitivity to the outside world and collective energy has dramatically intensified. Using this newfound sensitivity to tune back into my internal state allows me to listen intently to the intuitive guidance from within. Shedding away all the should’s and expectations from my ego, instead, following my heart.

Begin honing your intuitive being by:

  • Releasing the distractions of the outside world
  • Forgoing comparison
  • Calming your inner-critic
  • Releasing pressure from family or friends
  • Removing resistance
  • Releasing procrastination

Connect to your intuitive being by:

  • Protecting stillness
  • Harnessing your breath
  • Writing and listening from the heart

Final thoughts

In conclusion, there’s a mass awakening occurring right now. Like most, I’m craving truth and transparency in all aspects of life. For me, that equates to connecting with my authentic self and embodying that version of my intuitive self.

Because of these massive transitions and initiations, I’ve been more inward than I have in years. I’m taking my power back as a woman who trusts her body’s intuitive wisdom along the way—honoring, listening, resting, and trusting the greatest teacher, who lies within.

 

Learn More

Whether you are local to Grand Rapids and can join me at my East Town office The Healing Space or you are somewhere else in the world. Allow me to guide you in this experience of transformative healing.

All of my Breathwork sessions are combined with Reiki Energy Therapy, Crystals, a Holistic Health Consultation & recommendations in-between sessions with healing tools so you can continue empowering your own journey. Learn more about my in-person + virtual offerings HERE.

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Why We Need Healthy Boundaries

Setting personal and emotional boundaries is essential to a healthy life. Without a way of letting other people know how much they can ask of you for emotional support or what you identify as comfortable or uncomfortable, balance is nearly impossible to experience.

Unfortunately, in reality, it’s tricky to even figure out what your boundaries, let alone how to set them with the people in your life. When you’re first learning how to explore lines of separation, looking at areas in your life where you feel exhausted is a good place to start. Additionally, try to embrace that it’s ok to say “no.” Defining your needs and putting yourself first is not selfish.

Two simple ways to establish a healthy boundary:

  1. First, gain a clear sense of self and know your limits. When we push ourselves beyond our limits, this is when we experience burnout. Often this means going within and feeling into your body + mind to understand the feelings coming in.
  2. Honor yourself after tuning into your own limits. Do so by kindly asserting yourself when needed. This shows others your clear boundaries. If you’ve been a “Yes” person/people pleaser your entire life, this will likely take time to practice.

You will begin to feel respected, self-aware, and confident as you begin to set healthy boundaries in your life. Remember that boundaries are not selfish. They are indeed one of the most extraordinary acts of self-love. The number one reason why you aren’t setting boundaries is out of fear.

Common fears that get in the way of establishing boundaries may include:

  • Not being perceived as loving (your true nature is nurturing others, and saying no feels really difficult)
  • External judgement (you don’t want to be thought of as a prude or worse for saying no)
  • Abandonment (if you say no, you feel that you could be left alone or rejected)
  • Avoiding seeming controlling (you don’t feel militant with your relationships)
  • Fear of guilt/shame (you’ll feel guilty for saying no to a close loved one)

 

Fear is entirely normal, but when you begin to stand for your boundaries firmly, you’ll feel empowered with your new level of self-awareness and respect. When we insert a new boundary and stand behind it, this builds our confidence and integrity. Without boundaries, we feel burnt out, overwhelmed, and resentful. With healthy boundaries, we feel fulfilled, aligned, and have more love to give. Remember that a boundary is simply a way to show others how to treat you.

Learn More

Whether you are local to Grand Rapids and can join me at my East Town office The Healing Space or you are somewhere else in the world. Allow me to guide you in this experience of transformative healing.

All of my Breathwork sessions are combined with Reiki Energy Therapy, Crystals, a Holistic Health Consultation & recommendations in-between sessions with healing tools so you can continue empowering your own journey. Learn more about my in-person + virtual offerings HERE.

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Clearing: Mental and Physical Health

What is clearing?

As an empath, clearing my energetic and emotional body consistently is vital. Otherwise, I’m left feeling stagnate, overwhelmed, and on an emotional rollercoaster. Many of us are highly sensitive, psychic sponges that pick up on the energies and emotions of those around us. After that, it becomes difficult to differentiate between our own emotional state and the emotions we hold onto from others.

While I continue to develop my own intuitive gifts through meditation, breathwork healing, and energy work, I find that I have become even more sensitive to others’ subtle energetic fields. Picking up on the collective energy has been increasingly present for me as well. This is why I have a daily clearing practice and recommend the same to my clients.

A few sacred clearing tools I use:

  • Smudging with white sage, palo santo, or sweet grass
  • Dance or Yoga to move stagnation out of my body
  • Meditation to reconnect to my own internal state
  • Breathwork as a way to clear all the emotions that I have picked up from others
  • Embracing the earth elements (water to cleanse, earth to ground, fire for re-birth
  • Free-writing to check-in with my intuition and anything that I need to release

Physical healing

By healing chronic illness — Lyme disease and recovering from breast-implant illness after explant last year — I found that the more I healed my mental, emotional and spiritual body, the faster the recovery of my physical body unfolded. Science now shows a strong correlation between the biological cascade of effects from mental stress and its impact on our physical body. If you are chronically stressed out, overwhelmed, buried in fear, or racing thoughts, now is the time to begin healing your mental state.

Physical manifestations of mental overwhelm can show up in a myriad of mystery symptoms that leave you with no answers or solutions:

  • Autoimmune conditions
  • IBS
  • Thyroid disorders
  • Hormonal imbalance
  • Migraine headaches
  • Insomnia
  • Back problems
  • Adrenal fatigue
  • Chronic exhaustion
  • Eczema
  • TMJ / Jaw clenching

… the list can go on and on.

The link between physical and mental

As a Highly Sensitive Person, I’ve found that my body holds onto stress easily. Most of which is mental/emotional stress. It will be a continuous journey to nurture my internal state with meditation, breathwork, stillness, nature, yoga, etc. However, my body, like yours, is constantly talking to me. Sending you signals, for instance, when you’re out of alignment with a job, a relationship, a way of living, or even where you’re living. Ignoring these signals will only result in more significant turmoil and a physical breakdown of your body.

After years of suffering physically with mystery symptoms, I take this to heart. I’ve entirely adjusted my life to ensure I nurture myself daily, and I honor my body in its totality. If you have been ignoring your own mental, emotional, or physical well-being, it is never too late to begin the journey towards healing.

Final thoughts

When we’re disconnected from our true nature (love, compassion, gratitude & joy), it’s easy to get pulled into the darkness of fear. It leaves us in a chronic state of fight or flight as the stress hormone, cortisol, rises. Therefore, this more permanent state makes us more susceptible to illness and other manifestations of imbalance in the physical body, making clearing essential.

In conclusion, through times of chaos and disruption, we must reconnect to the consciousness and wisdom of our own intuitive knowing residing in the heart. To clear out fear through somatic movement, breath, smudging, meditation, and prayer. To feel and receive the support we have above us. Trusting, surrendering, and believing we are safe, held, and protected every step of the way.

 

Learn More

Whether you are local to Grand Rapids and can join me at my East Town office The Healing Space or you are somewhere else in the world. Allow me to guide you in this experience of transformative healing.

All of my Breathwork sessions are combined with Reiki Energy Therapy, Crystals, a Holistic Health Consultation & recommendations in-between sessions with healing tools so you can continue empowering your own journey. Learn more about my in-person + virtual offerings HERE.

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The Importance of Self-Care in Hard Times

Our bodies, minds, and spirits are intertwined on the deepest level. When we experience hardship on a mental, physical, or spiritual level, it’s not uncommon for us to feel those effects on multiple planes. In times of trial and tribulation, self-care holds an importance that detached, modern societies often overlook. I’m incredibly thankful for all that my past has taught me. As an empath, I see that each time I suppressed pain from my childhood or adolescence, it manifested into physical ailments within my body.

Now, as a fully grown adult, I understand that self-care is not a frivolous indulgence. It is a daily necessity to ensure that we are in balance at all levels of self. When we neglect our physical body, we feel imbalances creep in. When we ignore our mental or emotional body, we feel anxious and depressed. By disregarding our spiritual body, we feel completely disconnected.

What even is self-care?

Here is what self-care isn’t:

  • It is not selfish.
  • It’s not indulgent.
  • It is not dependent on extravagant income or gifts.
  • It’s not something you do only if you have time.
  • It is not a reward for checking items off the to-do list.

According to one research study of self-care assessments, it can be “defined as, “a multidimensional, multifaceted process of purposeful engagement in strategies that promote healthy functioning and enhance well-being.” Especially in hard times, a routine of self-care can mean the difference between resiliency and prolonged suffering.

How can I maintain my health when I don’t feel like it?

Every person on this earth will go through a season of life, if not many, that challenge everything. Whether it’s a breakup with someone you love, a failure or mistake, or a health crisis, feeling “bad” is a part of existence. However, when you feel awful, and the last thing you want to do is take care of yourself, small actions of kindness can lift you out of the dark.

Ideas for self-care:

  • Breathwork/meditation/yoga.
  • Take a nap if you need one.
  • Nourish your body with a home-cooked meal.
  • Connect with a cherished friend or family member.
  • Make time for a purely fun activity.
  • Go for a walk in nature.

We must commit to self-compassion, care, and love at all times along our journeys. If we don’t take the time to respect our bodies, minds, and spirits, the consequence is burnout and overall deterioration. Remember, we can’t pour from an empty cup, and we can’t help others without helping ourselves first.

Learn More

Whether you are local to Grand Rapids and can join me at my East Town office The Healing Space or you are somewhere else in the world. Allow me to guide you in this experience of transformative healing.

All of my Breathwork sessions are combined with Reiki Energy Therapy, Crystals, a Holistic Health Consultation & recommendations in-between sessions with healing tools so you can continue empowering your own journey. Learn more about my in-person + virtual offerings HERE.

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How to Listen to Your Intuition

Learning how to listen to our intuition can be a difficult process thanks to the lessons many of us have learned from overly rational societal or familial suggestion. From a young age we’re taught to “keep it together” and tuck all of our true emotions alway. But this inner-hiding has consequences when it comes to understanding and softening to our intuition.

I know how tempting it is to pretend like everything’s perfect in our lives and hide our shadows. This neglect of my intuitive mind worked for me until it didn’t. I kept going until the stress, tension and overwhelm in my life began to bubble to the surface — manifesting itself as anxiety, digestive issues, body pain and a long list of mystery symptoms.

In a chronic state of flight of fight, I had no awareness this was the real cause of all the imbalances my body and mind were experiencing.

How can I tell if my intuition is muffled?

Let’s do a memory exercise. When was the last time you had a gut feeling about something? Intuition can sometimes seem like some complex, fantastical thing that some people have and others don’t. In reality, intuition is just an instinctive, inner-knowing. It’s the part of humanity that can “feel the vibe” in a room or with a person and whether it would be positive to spend your energy with that space.

German psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer defines intuition as “a form of unconscious intelligence that is as needed as conscious intelligence.” When we ignore our unconscious intelligence and override this feeling, life can feel harder, heavy, or more of a struggle. Our bodies can respond negatively with stomach aches, intense anxiety, or an overriding feeling of being out of place.

How can I start learning to listen to my intuition?

Tapping into your intuition can be a big adjustment! Most of the time, it’s more of a whisper than a yell. Many of adults already struggle to pay attention to inner cues, so this can be frustrating. Here are some of my favorite ways to hone in:

  • Commit to a daily mindfulness practice.
  • Try listening to your gut (or heart) about little things before big decisions.
  • Listen to a guided meditation. You can check out one of my recent podcasts here about how to trust yourself.
  • Pay attention to how you feel both after making a choice and throughout your daily habits.
  • Notice if a certain type of opportunity keeps knocking at your door (this can be your intuition attempting to get you to notice it!).

Listening to your intuition can help you feel more confident in decision-making and feel more at ease in social situations. Benefits like improved physical health and sleep cycles can also come from a stronger intuitive nature. The more you align with your intuitive mind the more peace you’ll find in your everyday life.

 

Learn More

Whether you are local to Grand Rapids and can join me at my East Town office The Healing Space or you are somewhere else in the world. Allow me to guide you in this experience of transformative healing.

All of my Breathwork sessions are combined with Reiki Energy Therapy, Crystals, a Holistic Health Consultation & recommendations in-between sessions with healing tools so you can continue empowering your own journey. Learn more about my in-person + virtual offerings HERE.

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Lessons in Complete Surrender

The art of surrender and letting go is a reasonably counter-culture practice in today’s world. While I’ve been cultivating this lifestyle and mindset of relinquishing control for some time, my current pregnancy is a lesson in complete surrender.

I’m officially into the second trimester, and these first few months have physically been so much more demanding than I could have ever imagined. Although, with the challenges comes an initiation as I evolve into this new role. The Universe has a unique way of reminding us that no matter how structured, planned, and perfect we try to sculpt our personal worlds, nearly everything is out of our control. For example, I thought healing from Lyme was painful, but the everyday fatigue, nausea, and headaches I’m feeling now take the cake.

I’ve wholly released the tight schedule and routine that I used to be committed to daily. Morning spin class, meditation practice, and journaling have pretty much gone out the window. Not to mention my podcast has been on a hiatus and several other exciting plans put on the back burner, too. Instead of feeling anxious or stressed about the current circumstances, I recognize the opportunity to practice surrender.

Ways you can let go and release control:

  1. Release what you can’t control: as hard as we may try, we cannot healthily micro-manage every aspect of our lives. 
  2. Embrace whatever emotions and worries have risen: it’s okay to hold space for your feelings and frustrations. But, after acknowledging them, let them go. 
  3. Increase self-awareness: check out my podcast Letting Go + Surrender for tools on how to begin the process, creating space for miracles to unfold in your own life. 
  4. Pause for a moment of gratitude: suffering, pain, and hardship is a universal experience. Sometimes it’s easier to focus on what’s going wrong than the blessings and grace that’s present, as well. 
  5. Find comfort in knowing the Universe and Spirit are both in you and for you.

The phrase “letting go and surrender” can seem abstract, but in practice, trusting the Universe isn’t just about having faith. Sometimes, we have to be practical and face our limiting beliefs and fears with courage. It isn’t until we can accept that what holds us back doesn’t serve us that moving forward becomes a reality. 

So, how is complete surrender working for me?

This slow season is a new type of growth and prioritizes honoring my body in unprecedented ways. Breathwork teaches us that it’s safe to release control of your life, to follow your intuition, and to give yourself grace when it feels like your world is upside down. Because of this, I’ve never felt more aligned with everything unfolding. It’s incredibly freeing to let go and trust that we’re being divinely guided every step of the way.

 

Learn More

Whether you are local to Grand Rapids and can join me at my East Town office The Healing Space or you are somewhere else in the world. Allow me to guide you in this experience of transformative healing.

All of my Breathwork sessions are combined with Reiki Energy Therapy, Crystals, a Holistic Health Consultation & recommendations in-between sessions with healing tools so you can continue empowering your own journey. Learn more about my in-person + virtual offerings HERE.

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Protecting Your Peace Through Forgiveness

Everyone can resonate with the feelings of hurt, betrayal, or rejection by another, and maybe even the sense that forgiveness is impossible. For most of my life, I kept a guarded heart as a coping mechanism to continuing moving with the pain of such sufferings. Over time and past heartbreaks, I built an inner-steel wall to protect me from being hurt again. Little did I know, the more impenetrable the wall became the more disconnected I became from myself. 

The jadedness that comes from resentment, bitterness, frustration and judgement towards those that hurt you is consuming. I wasn’t even aware of this indifference until my first breathwork healing ceremony, when years of sadness I had been holding onto finally released from my heart.

How can you start the healing process with forgiveness?

Under your own anger, hostility, and judgement of the other is simply unexpressed sadness, hurt, and betrayal searching for a safe release. The healing begins within our heart, and breathwork is its medicine.

If you’ve explored any of my work, you know the benefits to a consistent breathwork practice are not insignificant. Reduced stress and anxiety, better digestion, increased energy, and a release of traumatic pain are just a few to name. You can also listen to one of my podcast episodes here, where I unpack all the details of conscious breathwork if you’re curious and new to this method of healing forgiveness.

Sadly, many of us do not feel ready to fully forgive yet. I honor the courage it takes to get to this next step.

What happens when we don’t forgive?

By holding onto the desire to “get even,” you are spiritually poisoning yourself. Like a young flower, our inner-world blossoms only if we nurture it on a continuous basis. Refusing to forgive is toxic; it stunts your growth, healing, and evolution to your physical and spiritual self.

Stuck in a cycle of blame, you may experience a harmful brew of guilt, shame, self-judgment, and self-sabotage. You may not even realize that you’re being so hard on yourself because you decided to withhold forgiveness. Not only that, but this endless imprisonment separates you from God and the Universe, the source of all love and wholeness. Without access to the Higher Power, we remain trapped in a state of detachment. No one wants to feel that disconnect to source. We have to let down our pride and stubbornness to truly heal and set ourselves free with forgiveness.

God, Spirit, the Universe…whatever you resonate with, this is our source for a loving, fulfilling, trusting and abundant life. I can’t promise the path to healing and compassion is without challenge. However, it is our birth right and true being, behind all the layers of hurt. Protect your peace — forgive and let go.

 

Learn More

Whether you are local to Grand Rapids and can join me at my East Town office The Healing Space or you are somewhere else in the world. Allow me to guide you in this experience of transformative healing.

All of my Breathwork sessions are combined with Reiki Energy Therapy, Crystals, a Holistic Health Consultation & recommendations in-between sessions with healing tools so you can continue empowering your own journey. Learn more about my in-person + virtual offerings HERE.

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How to raise your vibration with crystals

If you’ve visited my healing office in Grand Rapids you know it’s filled with crystals. In all my 1:1 healing sessions, I use crystals as tools to clear negative energies that arise and to fill the body with a higher vibration.

What is vibrational energy?

While vibrational energy is currently popular in the wellness world, it’s also based in physics. Einstein established that the universe is energy. Every plant, rock, thought, and molecule vibrates at different frequencies. In humans, high vibrational energy feels light and at ease. On the other hand, experiencing low energy resembles negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, and anger.

Why should you want to raise your vibration?

Higher vibrations increase your energy levels, happiness, and bodily health. Aside from the physical benefits, raising your vibration makes it easier to connect with Spirit and manifest your definition of success.

So, how do crystals play into transforming energy? You can shift vibrations through exercising, practicing conscious breath work, and by utilizing specific crystals. High-energy crystals protect against low vibrations and help keep your chakras aligned. You can wear them as jewelry, hold them in moments of meditation, or keep them at your place of work — whatever feels right for you.

My top 3 crystals for personal use and healing:

1. Selenite: This angelic, snow white stone is as powerful as it is unassuming.  Clarity and consciousness are rooted in this stone’s meaning. Selenite’s worldly history with the moon highlights its focus on bringing peace and purity to head and heart.
2. Amethyst: Super high in vibrations, this gorgeously purple stone radiates healing energy. It’s perfect for bringing you into calmness, tranquility, and connecting to your intuition.
3. Quartz: Clear Quartz is unique in its association will all of the chakras. Spiritually, it is an energy enhancer and multi-dimensional healer. Perfect for intense manifestation, this stone amplifies your thoughts and feelings.

After first exploring the use crystals in my own reiki healing sessions, I quickly fell in love with their grounding, and uplifting nature. Overall, each crystal serves a different purpose. It’s important to pay attention to your Higher Self when choosing which one to incorporate as part of the healing process.

Learn More

Whether you are local to Grand Rapids and can join me at my East Town office The Healing Space or you are somewhere else in the world. Allow me to guide you in this experience of transformative healing.

All of my Breathwork sessions are combined with Reiki Energy Therapy, Crystals, a Holistic Health Consultation & recommendations in-between sessions with healing tools so you can continue empowering your own journey. Learn more about my in-person + virtual offerings HERE.

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The Transformative Power of Gratitude

Gratitude is a daily practice that has the ability to transform your life. Unfortunately, in the hustle and often thoughtless nature of today’s world, practicing gratitude can be an afterthought.

True happiness derives from a perspective shift, focusing on the abundance we do have instead of what we don’t have. I’ve seen significant changes in my own life from starting and ending my day with gratitude.

Why should you practice gratitude?

As more people see and feel the power of acknowledgment, science has more incentive to study its effects. Several recorded benefits of daily gratitude practices include:

  • boosts immune systems
  • improves mental health
  • improves relationships
  • increases optimism

Furthermore, recent data suggests giving consistent appreciation and attention to positivity can change your brain. Our brains are susceptible to our thought processes. We can choose to unshackle our time and energy from toxic emotions such as resentment, envy, or annoyance.

How to hone your gratefulness skills:

Practicing gratitude can directly affect your mood, but the most transformative benefits come from consistent practice. Here are some practical ways to incorporate gratitude into your daily routine:

  1. Keep a Gratitude Journal. Taking a few moments in the morning or at night to recall moments of gratitude allows you to incorporate a theme of gratefulness into your everyday life.
  2. Say thank you more often. Give compliments to random people you interact with — it’s the easiest way to brighten another person’s day. Plus, by creating positive energy for others, you naturally raise your vibration.
  3. Each day think of 3 things you are grateful for and share them with a friend or loved one. You can also keep your items to yourself. These can be as small or large as you want! Concentrating on the things we so easily take for granted, like the Breath or a beautiful day, also cultivates mindfulness.
  4. Challenge yourself to spend one a day a week aware of complaining and criticizing thought processes. Any time a negative thought pops up, commit to coming up with a positive one to follow.
  5. Meditate on the blessings in your life. You can listen to a recent podcast episode on the deeply restorative nature of gratitude meditation here.

Don’t forget:

Over time, this perspective shift occurs effortlessly, becoming second nature as your mindset turns to focus on all the good in your life. The further along in your gratitude journey you travel, the more you’ll come to recognize the endless potential for manifestation, as well. Feeling gratitude for all of your high vibration aspirations is an essential aspect of the universal law of attraction and magnetizes it into your life. Shifting into the flow of receiving allows you to co-create your intentions with ease.

Learn More

Whether you are local to Grand Rapids and can join me at my East Town office The Healing Space or you are somewhere else in the world. Allow me to guide you in this experience of transformative healing.

All of my Breathwork sessions are combined with Reiki Energy Therapy, Crystals, a Holistic Health Consultation & recommendations in-between sessions with healing tools so you can continue empowering your own journey. Learn more about my in-person + virtual offerings HERE.

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