Mental Health and Wellness Archives - Page 6 of 27

Self-Care Wheel for Kapha Imbalances

Self-care wheel with love, spiritual, sleep, and energy at the helm.

Self-care wheel balance is heck-yeah! needed in the colder months when our unleashed Kaphas are in full-force…

Wheels in motion take you to where you want to go. A wheel can go slowly or fast, but no matter what speed its default is to move forward (unless you purposefully choose to reverse). And, this article is about moving you forward and bettering your life this season. 🎡

If you understand the nature of Ayurveda as our natural healthy design, then you’ll be able to use that insight for better self-care and restore natural seasonal imbalances.

Like on the exterior, if you have super dry skin every winter along with a skinny frame, then you’re likely a natural Vata body (and not a Kapha body). If you tend to hold extra body weight and metabolize slowly, then Kapha is your natural way. Both feel the cold extremities as traits.

And as natural as having a Kapha body, some of us are more Kapha minded. Or we get imbalanced with tired Kapha moods.

That’s sometimes how I feel in the mornings (when Delta sleep is more like it!).

We can have a Vata body and a Kapha mind (and vice versa) as a simple example. And, there are 9 organized combinations if we want to keep it simple. Because you may be one born dominant in two body or mind ways (doshas). And mind and body connect in the daily mind-body connection to how you think, act, and feel.

The good news is you can positively impact and gradually change what you don’t like by your lifestyle choices. It’s nature vs. nurture where nurture is what you’re living today.

…You don’t have to settle for what you’re born with as lesser personality and traits you want to change.

Genetics is a tougher one to influence and turn the rudder on, but not impossible… and lifestyle tweaks and choice prevention can completely change a lesser situation or a higher probability likelihood.

And so, this article is meant to help you connect-the-dots and live your best life you can today with better lifestyle choices!

I’m focusing on Kapha here because all of us have a little of Kapha going on and that can be heavy in this seasonal time of year (where we hear more cough-as life). 😷

But here I share what I learned circa 2008 that has stuck with me, and what’s newer that I applied starting in 2023 to support healthy daily living intentions and prevention.

…And we know a healthy body translates to a better happy day where we get to do more and make more choices on our terms!

Letting in self-care influences give us more daily joy and balance. When you add better sleep, energy, spiritual, and love self-care into the equation, those move the needle forward. 🧭

A self-care wheel just like that can be the practical guide toward priorities tipping away from the heavy Kapha mind that makes it hard-to-get-going in the morning… or that makes you feel more depressed during colder seasons.

…Where growing up, we called this the SAD season (seasonal affective disorder). I went through this every February in my teens and early 20 years (when one that age should have had more energy). Lack of supplemental Vitamin D and sunshine affected the happy hormones we didn’t know much about back then. Winters were colder in the mid-Atlantic region where I grew up.

But, today we have more self-care knowledge and winters are warmer, and sometimes 70 degrees in some regions. So you can use the better products and circadian rhythm advice out there to your self-care wheel advantage.

…Plus, my healthy lessons learned (that btw get better with age 😉). Below is the skinny on what could help you get the self-care wheel balance you’re needing today.

✨ And these are some obvious Kapha Signs to look out for 👀that may be affecting you (and your self-care wheel):

Kapha Sign #1 (Sleep/energy):

Sleep and energy together because they are so closely knit together. 🧶

Do you find yourself needing more sleep in the cold weather seasons? Or maybe you’re consistently tired?

And that’s a bummer because less sleep means less time enjoying the day or being productive. Not enough sleep, you also lose free time and can lack energy as downsides.

Number of sleep hours are important, but better quality sleep is the better biohack way. And I share the best biohack routine I know and practice below. ⬇️

But for most days, when you get enough sleep, your body wakes up feeling energized. (Sleep + energy = 🤸🏻‍♂️)

You get better connected, cohesive thoughts. Because your body was able to fully recharge its batteries the night before.

Your daily energy ⚡️ is directly affected by how well you sleep. We all know that… and that’s why alarm clocks and caffeine are so popular in the morning.

…And getting less blue light in our eyes at night is up there too as newer healthy artificial habits.

We can also affect the energy systems inside us with better lifestyle choices, like: healthy food and drink choices, when we consume, and exercise.

Energy is not just physical and movement. Or calories.

…It’s also energy in the mind. Our minds can be slow and lethargic and that can be part of a Kapha imbalanced mind.

But there are other signs too… like, we’re not connecting energetically with others (who are energy).

We can have an invisible positive magnetic or negative repelling energy. That’s something visible in your life to consider that often gets missed in relationships and the community around us.

✅ Tips for daily sleep/energy ⚡️self-care wheel balance:

Give yourself more energy. You can listen to music that puts you in an energetic mood, get blood pumping through your veins doing your exercises, and doing a new activity that stimulates your mind. And give yourself daily healthy mind-body energy food.

Kapha Sign #2 (Spiritual):

When our Kaphas are off balance, there’s a domino effect, affecting: feelings, thoughts, and how much of our lit spiritual selves we let in. And these impact our daily actions.

The actions (or inactions) that accumulate pounds, things, emotions, and piles of things as examples are obvious exterior signs. They’re processed deeper in mind-thoughts that change our feelings and moods.

To change, it’s easier to look at the exterior signs (as mirrors and clues) to our inner going-ons that creates our world, so we can get more grounded and tap into our inner power.

If you find the clue that you’re accumulating in some way, the deeper source could be because you’re wanting to be alone and building up a wall from others. Or you’re just plain tired from picking up toys and piles, and cleaning up.

…The source isn’t as important as knowing that those are classic Kapha awareness imbalanced signs. And since we don’t want to exude growing unhealthy behavior that accumulates, we can change choices…

So, look around… have you accumulated things or have you stopped putting things away as much? Do you have unintentional messy piles, clothes, or toys left out for another day?

“Disorganized” and “clutter” (descriptions that can harshly rub like an abrasive scrubber as the elephant in the room) — usually go hand-in-hand because it’s the same mind feeding the non-serving abrasive message.

…And this can leave feelings of shame that can gradually turn into self-loathing if allowed. That’s sobering, but helpful because then we can be aware and fix what isn’t healthy.

✅ Tips for daily spiritual 🌟 self-care wheel balance:

Practice letting go. Ignore your heavy Kapha thoughts as this derails you from your this season’s purpose. This can sound challenging if you’ve never exercised this right to ignore any of your thoughts, but it’s so liberating!

Rewrite not-so-great thoughts if you never have (and do it over and over again if you have). Nip it in the bud when the thoughts arrive.

You can save time, money, and effort that your brain would otherwise send you to go spend on… like I’d be happier if I had ___ shopping item, ___ life, or ___ relationship.

Feeling content can do wonders for you if you can do that step.

Many years ago, I discovered that I didn’t have to accept my random thoughts that entered my mind. I could decisively ignore and even peacefully disagree. How was that the first time?… very weird.

…But when I practiced that habit, my life changed and I didn’t let the beaten down tracks play over and over again. The better track connect-the-dots and stops fictitious endings from forming.

With those positive step actions, I could walk away and then my better moods came back.

I could change my moody feelings and re-direct my perspectives. And you can too if that’s what you want…

Where and how are you on your mind and thought journey?

Here are the simple steps 👣

Recognize the thought: negative, unproductive thought (alert!)

The action: walk away

The walk away feeling: freedom vs. ego smothering protection and feeling bad about something, people, or myself

Repeat.

Kapha Sign #3 (Love):

Getting back or having healthy self-love is most important in matters of love and relationships. That’s how we also attract healthy relationships.

But, heavy imbalanced Kapha minds can have extremes: acting prickly toward people or relationships. Or acting needy and dependent to those who don’t reciprocate. These do the opposite of attracting (and sometimes wrongly attract opposites).

Smothering (or semi-mothering) can make others feel like a boundary is crossed, and can easily destroy a relationship.

When we expect others to make us happy, we set ourselves up for disappointment. So focusing on loving ourselves first allows us to energetically have an authentic overflow of love that pours out to others.

In self-care, we used to call this Me-Time that has become Me-Too as a form of love and healing.

✅ Tips for daily love ❤️ self-care wheel balance:

Be kind to yourself and your body, and tell your mind: “I am enough.”

Repeat saying to yourself: “I am loved” as a daily mantra.

******************************************

🧡 And FINALLY, from my newer lessons learned on the self-care wheel:

In 2023, I started intermittent fasting in my life for healthy gut reasons. But I found in my self-experiment (that I journaled about)… it also improved daily sleep, energy, and gave lighter mind-thoughts.

On those IF nights, sleep is better because the body doesn’t need to go to extra work to process food ontop of all its miracle daily resetting functions (…and why we need sleep in the first place!). And the liver doesn’t have to work hard to process beverages other than the mostly water clear kind. I like herbal teas.

So building in a weekly routine practice, I experienced not needing as much sleep and improved sleep quality.

👣 If you want to know how to optimize IF and Kapha metabolism for all the daily healthy benefits (and biohacking your body’s health), you can learn and read more about my journey.

Passion Project Ideas From Tapping Into Your Spiritual Side

passion project ideas graphic — Noodling passion project ideas on a whiteboard canvas.

Passion project ideas work wonders for engaging your happy self. The happy sides that lead to your bigger purpose spiritual sides with passion and purpose meant for you.

If you’re feeling like you’re not living up to your potential, then this is a good article for you to read to ignite your inner passion that can eventually become your manifested dream life.

Why?

Because your passions are aligned with your bigger dreams meant for you. And if you believe, always have been meant for you!

The dreams you dreamt about when you were younger… or you may have felt in the deepest part of your heart and soul at some point.

These often disappeared into daily life and busyness. And you can resurface these if and when you bring your this season’s passions to the surface that may have also slid away and hid for a better day.

BUT – Let this season bring on the BETTER day. And start putting the dream delivery process in motion.

Start with passion. Because If you’re missing passion, then you’re most likely missing purpose as closely linked together and a part of dreams. And passion is easier to initially uncover.

Finding your passion project ideas is one doable way to unravel the discovery tide. 🌊 It also can be exciting (breaks up routine) and if you’re underwhelmed, is a much-needed change in your season.

For better outcomes and for starters, give yourself at least a few days to mull over and process passion project ideas before starting to see if one sticks.

Here are the wise passion project ideas steps:

🌟Seek inner wisdom and get encouragement from others. There’s a spirit in all of us. It’s a valuable tool available to us. So we can dig deeper and elicit our spirits and other spirits to help us grow…

If we’re not used to exercising our spirit, getting external validation from conversations with others can be an easier way to start the process. Especially if we can have a tendency to overthink or not think enough.

So then collect encouraging words from friends about areas of your life, interests, hobbies, and work you enjoy that they admire.

Magnify those words. Those are often clues of truth received from Universe vibes where purpose comes from.

Specifically, highlight what others who know you genuinely say you’re gifted in. Listen to the specificity in their descriptions and comments. Use those gifts and turn them into a passion project. You may find you have a list of passion project ideas.

This is different than specific guidance and asks coming from others’ agendas. Those often come from the logical mind that are not going to bring our your intended passion, purpose, and dreams. So you’re best to turn those ideas down.

Use your feelings here as a guide.

Be open to seek and ask outside your circle sources, and maybe even slight strangers in daily chance meetings you’re in conversation with. Also look at those who you look up to outside of your direct family and friends.

It’s up to you to take that information and process it through your systems. And even if the first project isn’t where you end up, it’s a start to get the passion ignited. Action provides clarity to the next baby step. And trying several passion project ideas shows you what you like better relative to the other.

🌟Check-in with your moods and feelings. Your heart close to your spirit provides subtle guided feelings. Sometimes you can be misled as some surface feelings are confusing or mixed with daily moods.

Ask: is this is a daily passing mood-feeling? Daily moods are deceiving and changing during the day like the wind, and sometimes are affected by weather changes. Do you get in a tired mood when it’s cloudy-rainy outside?

Versus, seasonal moods and feelings that don’t shake off easily. Those temperature gauges are meant to help you specifically to your next step of change. Otherwise you may not want to make a change.

Example: if you feel tired, exhausted, and frustrated for a season (or with a situation), it’s time to look at other respite solutions and find your way to a new season with inspiration, interests, and passions.

If you don’t get internal or external answers, then simply dabble. Or doodle. Your intentions will help you in your manifestations.

Give yourself some time to gain clarity. Work on many things. One will jump out if you are dedicated to your best interest. Keep moving.

🌟Look around at your manifested clues and go for it. Where have you been called that you didn’t attempt to make happen either recently or in your more recent past and that you can make happen (again) today?

Think of where you may have turned down an opportunity and potential passion project ideas that were possibly meant for you, but was the wrong timing for you then or you lacked energy to pursue?

If you’re feeling stuck, let the motivation of getting unstuck move you.

Get determined. And then take one step forward.🦶🏼

Purposefully fake it until you make it… it sounds suspect but it’s an authentic move. You don’t have to air what you’re doing to the world or anyone.

Quietly take on your new steps, unstuck place, and the persona mindset you need to adopt to get there, so that you DO get there.

That’s the point.

🌟Seek passion project ideas where you’re being called.

Look for areas where you made decisions that you didn’t think much about but just seemed to happen easily.

These can come “out of the blue.”

They can be “suddenly” especially if they’re change-your-life decisions.

They can be impactful changes, but more likely you’ll find small daily changes that you make happen and that is meant for you. These daily smaller ticket moves can help steer you to the bigger ticket items.

Making things happen (big and small) can be as easy as replying to an email. And then seeing what is manifested for you.

Or… you just happen to turn on and watch a video or listen to a podcast and that got you started in a passion project direction. And that can snowball into your bigger steps.

If you know in your gut, you took the right healthy moves (at least for now), then your spirit is in it. The validation is the fruit, your happy satisfied feelings, and that you’re doing the project. The future will unfold the rest.

👣 And, look under your feet.

If you’re already doing a project, then you’re already entrenched and involved. That’s the confirming sign.

…Because so often we’re looking for the “next best thing” instead of focusing on what we’re doing in daily reality.

We’re looking beyond and out, and not looking (at clues) right under our nose. And feet. This is where your experience is and where your future will be in some way.

Objects are closer than they appear…

Use the magnifying glass instead of the telescope, and spark daily inspiration to work on these passion project idea areas in your awareness.

🌟See where you’ve excelled naturally. In my college Biology 100 level class, I remember I got a 100% on a mid-term test that was a highlighted college victory for me. That (natural) memory stuck with me where thousands of other memories dropped.

…And that’s commonly how it is for you.

Natural is Ayurvedic and it’s also a sign that it’s meant for you. Just like seasons, weather, and your body’s preferences.

My biology class memory was decades ago. In that memory, I remembered how much I enjoyed studying the human body and biology even though that wasn’t my college field or career path.

My first career job was in food catering management where learning food and dishes came naturally. I thought that’s how it was for everyone. We’ve all been eating since we were babies and kids.

But the fact is, some people don’t like food and don’t like meal prep. It’s can be a necessity and a hassle.

Only when I saw that it was special to me did my foodie and healthy work passion grow (leading closer to purpose).

What’s naturally easy for you?

🌟Connect the dots.

Take it a step further.

…Connect-the-dots.

Now I know why I like nutrition research so much. I connected-the-dots as to why those situations happened vs. so many others that could’ve happened. The ones that manifested were the ones that would become a passion.

And if you’re…feeling (still) stuck?

Maybe my past can help you…

When I was in corporate, the problem I had was that I was surrounded by robotic business language commonly used in a “real job” — the type of job that my family and network of educated friends took seriously.

Those high-level words used (symbolic for the work life I had) kept my mind away from wanting to create, and away from creating and writing useful, colorful guides that come from my inner creative spiritual sides…

Those ways didn’t align with my professional corporate identity I had back in the office working days.

The corporate side also didn’t help to align my inner child. The deeper inner child I discovered as a young adult needed healing FIRST, from years of being suppressed. And then could emerge to the surface as happy (embracing easy, fun, and practical).

And when I finally left corporate work, then I was able to remove the stigma and realize my creative passion desires and dub them as cool – and NOT silly.

I could also draw from my past hospitality foodie planning experiences as some of my first draft passion project ideas. And these days I have no problem with leaning into these sides! We all like to doodle in our ways. ✏️

But that was only after years of processing past trauma and being fully self-aware. Then the veil was lifted. I wasn’t held back in victim mentality and cloudy thoughts. All that helped my abundant, creative side emerge. And I believe is in all of us as purposes. It’s meant to be manifested if you want it to.

You can bring those sides out of you. They’re good for aligning your healthy and happy.

🎉 If you would like to get spiritual inspiration, you can find it on this channel where I write and talk ALL THINGS about spiritual and personal growth.

2-Ingredient Angel Food Cake

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1 cup cake flour
12 egg whites

Instructions

Beat egg whites until stiff. Add a smaill amount of cream of tartar and sugar.
Add flour gradually, folding gently.
Line tin with parchment paper. Do not use butter or oil line the pan.
Bake at 350°F/180°C for 35-40 minutes. The top will have a light toasty brown color.
Add fruit such as strawberry ontop that will be the dessert sugar.

Music Inspiration Daily For Slow Waiting Seasons

Music inspiration can be a saxophone that calms and is bright and cheery. — Music inspiration comes in all shapes and sizes!

Music inspiration can be therapy to your mind-body, like it is for mine. This article is all about building in some audio inspiration to your life, to get your mojo back or make it through your slow waiting seasons.

And a healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie 🍪 that can be prepared in 5 minutes (ready in 30) with 40 chocolate chips, a 4 oz. applesauce container (that is a good pantry stocking item to have on hand and you can buy in a 6-pack in the dried fruits and nuts grocery food aisle).

[Someone already took a bite out of this one 😊…]

healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.

Because getting yourself daily happy is going to help you in tough seasons…

Where life can be unexciting and underwhelming and you wish would speed up and you could fast forward.

If you were to add up those days and years in your life, they would be most of life if you have lofty goals.

And they can feel heavy, like a hangover.

Those are the times when routines and ruts can run our lives. We can feel like we’re not growing as much because we’re not learning as much. Or we’re not running around feeling as light and bouncy.

And all that can show up as a mood funk and stress in the mind-body.

Bringing the calm and loving thoughts back in the moment helps bring our mind-body balance back despite life’s chaos.

We want to feel healthy good, and without this balance, we feel off and that slows down our productivity jam, creativity flow, and daily rhythm.

And, music inspiration is an easy way to snap our minds out of unrest, and gradually move us out of seasonal rut feelings day by day, and get our bodies to dance around a little.

I was feeling one of those weeks that felt imbalanced in moods.

There were storms outside that didn’t help to bring out the sunny feelings. And my body was off sleep schedule. I usually naturally wake up at the same time every morning within minutes.

Now I found myself setting the alarm again, that I hadn’t done as a routine since I worked for an employer.

Was it post-holiday blues?

That’s what I chalked it up to.

But I was determined to not let that settle into another day or the weekend.

So instead of my weekly routine, I did one easy test move. I turned on the television.

And this time of year is when ice skating competition shows are aired. I hadn’t seen one this year, so it took me into a new loop as I watched the triple toe loops manifest in front of my eyes. From the 20 minutes or so of watching, I had a new verve again.

I was inspired again. My mind had those happy hormones that felt like they kicked back into drive.

And all it took was a few minutes.

What just happened?

My mind went somewhere else. I saw something different, and it was exciting to my mind that drives the bus and matters most in changing moods.

And the subtle backdrop instrumental music put me in a new place mood.

Music is therapy and that’s why it’s called music therapy.

Changing our daily rhythm sounds is what we often need for simple imbalance changes based on our lifestyle choices (like food and drink, sleep patterns, etc.)… and doesn’t take that much effort to help change our moods.

You just turn it on and there it is.

And if you’re trying, that can be the slight switch you make in your day today that gives you a new pep in your step.

…as you’re counting on every new step that can turn your season around for change.

Finding the right daily music inspiration is an important part of having daily joy.

…Even if we woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Or we were rattled with sad news. Or we’re in a nothing new season… music will help snap us out into a better mood because the effect it has on the mind.

And if that’s what you’re facing today, then know you’re one baby step away from making a change in your day… if you choose the right tunes to help change the mood tide.

The right music for the mind aren’t the same yummy bubble gum music or jams we hear daily on our stations, but ones that have moody sounds like snares and percussion instruments…you know, those odd looking small instruments like fun triangles and xylophones you had or probably played with in an elementary school music class.

I’ll never forget a Music Appreciation course I took in college where “Black Magic Woman” was one oldie song we analyzed.

Whether you listen to the Santana or Fleetwood Mac versions, you’re gonna hear some drama from the music…

You’ll notice when there’s a dramatic movie scene about to come on, they play suspenseful music to rope you in to add to the effects.

And the effects go straight to your head where your mind is. So in that small instant, you’re put in a different mood.

And if you can create your own momentary drama with music inspiration and musical instruments, that may dramatically wake up your dull mind up if that’s what you need. It’s the healthy way without creating real life drama, if ya know what I mean 🎭

And here are a few artists and songs to turn on for daily inspiration:

Al Green

B.B. King (or any Blues music)

And a few modern songs:

Magic (Coldplay)

Latch (Disclosure with Sam Smith)

Or have a home Christmas concert in July or anytime of year.

Seasonal Music Inspiration

Then there are times when you feel uninspired in general over a season. That’s when yo find new music 🎶 to gain your pep in your step.

And realize that’s an opportunity to recognize the need to welcome in a Life transition. Something great is going to come in. It could be a fresh start over.

Instead of adopting a why me attitude, turn on the why not me? And the why not me is about being chosen for your life mission and great activities ahead.

So recognize that seasonal blaise is meant to be a bridge or a transition.

Those seasonal feelings can overlap with the daily need for doses of inspiration. But they are not the same.

With those seasonal feelings, I know in my life that means it’s time to shift in another direction or do something different. It’s the Universe giving a clue to look up and out, instead of simply looking at what was.

And that can be how you approach your seasonal moods!

In growth preparation, finding inspiration (that can start with music inspiration) can get the wheels turning in the new direction.

And if music isn’t enough…

While listening to nostalgic music or getting music therapy, take a break and look at those daily photos, sports coverage, skating… or whatever gives you that temporary joy that snaps you outta your funk.

Try to find more appreciation or contentment to help your way through.

Transitioning is our life’s theme.

And of course, life never tells you or gives you a road map of where to transition shift to (…that would be waaayy too easy!). But if you listen to your inner guides, you have a better chance to figure out the next best step.

So it’s not always as much work as it sounds and if you cooperate with yourself.

Because in those tough moments, you know (or can believe!) that where you are will produce something GREAT on the other side.

And that’s how you can better embrace challenges and changes.

A belief, that’s fully in your control, improves your outlook and attitude.

And when we re-adjust those to help us get through and grow, then we’ve set ourselves up to more smoothly enter a new season with our good intentions.

And when you look back out next time, you’ll be in a different place because the moment has passed.

So what are you waiting for… turn on some good tune vibes 🎶 and ask yourself: what are you inspired about today?

And while you’re needing a sweet break, you can enjoy a healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with exactly 40 chip morsels in case you need to give someone a small job. This is an easy recipe that you or your young ones can make.

heathy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie in one bowl

Simple Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

4 oz applesauce (easy grocery plastic container size)
2/3 cup oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp maple sugar, honey, or molasses
2 tbsp chocolate chips (or 40 chip morsels)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup almond milk or milk of choice

Instructions

Combine ingredients and pour onto baking pan forming a roundish shape.
Bake on 350°F for about 20-25 minutes until well baked.

Yoga Wheel Pose For Removing Mental Blocks

Some larger-than-us life wheels are metaphors for us to gain balance in the slow motion! 🎡

You can use Wheel Pose to learn how to gain confidence in your life. Too often we overthink and get inside our heads. Like in Bird of Paradise Pose that can also be challenging…

When our gut instinct and initial thought is often the one we should follow. This is different than a knee-jerk reaction which is based on removing immediate pain and often based in fear or insecurity.

You know the difference because knee-jerk usually causes some pain backlash.

Sometimes we react defensively because we’re hurt, we haven’t processed fully what is hurled our way, or we’re too busy to think through what aftermath our words and actions will cause.

Afterall, we’re busy and have many areas of life that we try to balance in our life wheel: work, relationships, family, health, fitness, spiritual, and finances.

All can be sources of joy when good. Or become a worrisome disturbance that can cause turmoil unbalance, tipping the scale toward what’s heaviest.

In those moments you can use Wheel Pose to be a metaphor for restoring your balance.

It won’t mend your problems, but getting in the yoga pose will give you some encouraging moments and feelings that bring back a smile and some confidence. And help you with mental blocks, being in the moment.

That’s how I feel when I’m making my whole healthy pizzas 🍕 with a whole lotta peace in the pieces.✌️There’s a hole in whole but not in this one!

Shrimp on the barbie with artichokes and homemade barbecue sauce for a new kind of pie

And whatever daily inspires you, here’s how to get in Wheel Pose…

We can find it difficult to get our body off the ground if we’re not used to the yoga pose. That can be a metaphor for anything we are hesitant to try because it’s challenging (and our wintery Kapha minds want us to do the easy and our Kapha bodies like the lazy pose 🧘🏻‍♀️).

And that can keep us away from moving forward or succeeding in our victories. But we don’t have to live that way!

We can cooperate with our Kapha mind-body tendencies. I get it… life is hard enough, our wheels grow, and everything needs a sliver piece on the balanced Wheel of Life.

So to give ourselves an instant helping hand, we can take a known alternate route where the easier path gets us halfway there without effort…

You will still reap great health benefits from Wheel Pose.

The first step is: start by sitting on your bum instead of laying on your back.

Lazy or not, then you’re almost halfway there.

In yoga, we’re often laying on our backs or fronts like on a massage table or when we try to catch a tan on the beach. We forget that seated is another starting position. It’s the one we’re in when we’re driving forward. 🛞

But this easier way starts in a relaxed seat position. Your legs bent with knees up help. You’ll still catch the rays of the Wheel Pose!

Hands on the mat beside you, then you position your fingers and wrists toward your feet (or the opposite direction they normally would face if you were lounging on a beach towel on the beach).

Then use your arm strength to lift yourself off the mat.

When you get comfortable and know how it feels to be in baby Wheel Pose, then you use that confidence of having been-there-done-that to challenge yourself to the full proper Wheel Pose where you peel your entire back and body off the mat when you’re ready.

Now we’re talking!… Then you’re in your merry-go-round feeling Wheel.

You’ll be stronger afterward and have forgotten about your real life at least for a few moments.

Remember to breathe in to take in the moments that feel slow motion in the process (like on a carousel).

Removing Mind Blocks

And in the slower moments, you find balance and can remind yourself that everything is possible, and you’re capable if you get out of your own way.

Often, we can’t get past our mind blocks until we can see glimpses of the other side to believe our way through.

So, round and round we go. Our ego blocks us from seeing what could be ours.

But, we can get off the repeating mind carousel and help ourselves by letting go of what was.

Then when you show and tell yourself you can do a new way from a healthy perspective, you overcome the block. You get a new breakthrough on the carousel that helps your life wheel balance.

And if that isn’t enough to push you over the almost-there hump (you’re so close!), look at others who have gone before you in those areas and defied the odds.

They’ve given Wheel Pose its name. And you can invent your Wheel of Life version.

Life is cheering you on. Give it a spin! 🤸🏻

5 Dreaming Ways for Your New Year ✨

Make the New Year a year to awaken dreams!

In 2024, dreaming can be our New Year’s resolutions. For you and me, habits may have replaced resolutions and are healthy good, but they too only get us so far in our daily routines.

This article is all about re-awakening your dreams so they can come alive sooner.

Let’s start with the tradition many of us grew up with…

New Year’s Resolutions

It was the conversation starter for the last week of the year. And for traditionalists, still is. I started that way but then stopped cold turkey one year after I caught on like many others… that resolutions are nothing more than a Fun Wish List.

I became aware that it’s self-defeating to come up with a list of arbitrary projects and meeting lofty self-improvement challenges before the end of January when life went back to usual… and to come up with dreaming visions that aren’t ours and don’t work on annual timelines.

That all sets us up for disappointment.

Mid-February is when most of us have stopped our well-intended new year crusades if not sooner.

Often, our ideas are not aligned with what’s actually in our lives, and we don’t know what’s ahead in life’s uncertainty and opportunities.

And that doesn’t just ring true for resolutions, it’s also for our daily planning and future aspirations we have.

I found one of my life’s work one year by accident during a transition. And that’s how it is in most of our lives.

Creating an arbitrary list doesn’t enlist our higher thinking into our plans. Or what the future holds for the world.

What we really want to know is: what’s best for us in this season?

We’re not the ones best to answer that. The Universe knows before we do and can align us if we pay attention to the signs.

We only have a limited view of what we know today and our past experiences. Our job is to connect-the-dots in our lives.

New Year’s Habits

A better way to set us up for success (where we’re better off by year end) is creating better lasting habits as a productive way. It’s less about meeting goals and more about the process and progress we make.

“Progress over perfection” became the mantra circa 2020, that I think is here to stay.

And habits are at the core of making progress even though habit making is not a new concept.

We’ve been making habits since we were kids, getting up, brushing our teeth, and going to school.

And if we were lucky, we had caretakers who helped us make and form good habits. Or we had a chance to start fresh as adults.

This is when we learned habits can turn into manifesting what we want into our lives as labors of love down the road. They’re the keepsake dreams we hold deep down inside us and that are meant for us.

Manifesting Our Dreams

Because manifesting is not something that happens overnight or when you snap your fingers with a calendar date in mind. It doesn’t work like that as much as we want it to. Darn!

…It’s years in the making. But then it turns out better than expected. Because in the slow cook dreaming process, you’ve become the person ready for the dream.

…And in perfect timing like a warm stew with balanced flavors.

When you look at it like that, then you’re less discouraged today. You keep on dreaming! You have a newfound purpose.

Dreams can take seasons and sometimes decades to manifest. And while waiting, we wisely stay productive developing skills, traits, and experiences we will need.

That’s always in our control until the timing is right for the dream again to reappear.

…When I was a kid, we threw birthday parties and I always got great gifts. One happy memory I barely remember was a tea set that I enjoyed with my stuffed animal friends. I dreamed of my sophisticated adult life when I was a toddler. 🧸

And that was part of manifesting today’s life where I still enjoy a fine cup of tea (while interestingly no one else in my immediate family ever got the tea bug!).

But, we do share the travel bug and shared a family vacation to Europe. After that, I no longer saw my neighborhood, town, and school as the only places I could live or be.

And that set the wheels in motion to manifesting travel dreams in my adult life. I saw the possibilities of adventure and excitement of visiting new places from my younger vantage point.

But I had to connect-the-dots from my younger past experiences, because I wasn’t taught to dream.

So here’s some of the things you can do in your new year that will ring out the old resolutions and bring in the new dreams (back again) that haven’t manifested.

1.Create space for dream ideas to come in. Space needs headspace. So if you start today, you can have better answers tomorrow when you sleep on your dreams and gain new ideas throughout the day.

If you never start with new ideas, then you can stay stuck. But if they’re in you, they can come alive. Like the travel bug I developed.

That’s why it’s good to feed the good bugs (gut ones too, but that’s for another healthy article 😉). Give the good ideas energy and let the bad ones pass through.

2.Dream like a kid. When we were kids, we had aspirational dreams from touch points in our lives even if we weren’t taught to dream.

I couldn’t wait to grow up because most my young life wasn’t on my terms. But knowing there was more out there, helped me to get through those years. Because then maybe in possibilities, I would have the resources and way to make potential happen even if I didn’t know what my dreams were.

And if we were taught to dream, we know how to take those ideas further to the moon 🌙 and give them daily life even if they haven’t panned out.

All we need is the belief that there’s a grander life out there for us than the one we’re currently in. Then there’s a good chance to turn our dreams into motion picture reality. 🎥

3. Night dream with intent. I used to think sleeping dreams were useless. But they can be a part of our thought life that can be used to our benefit.

If you look at night dreams as unique to you (just like thoughts), then you can pull out the good ones and come up with new ideas. And some of them are meant to be yours as most have you featured in them as the star. 🌟

Take the good ones and manifest a good morning. Let them inspire you to keep dreaming and believe for your real life dreams.

4.Dream with inspiration. When you see new places and ideas, your thought horizon expands. You get glimpses of how others live and what others have come up with as their dreams.

America’s Got Talent is one show that showcases dreams do come true and can become reality.

And sometimes inspiration from others is our dream play land and fairytale life that we can aspire to and sets our dreaming in motion.

5. Dreaming with your eyes closed. Bring out a scent that reminds you of a happy childhood memory to help bring alive your imagination.

Maybe hot cocoa, a candle, or something nostalgic from your hood. 👧🏻

Think of the details of that memory. Bring out what childhood or younger self dream can be fulfilled from the memory and still ring true in your life today.

Keep dreaming in the New Year! ✨I’m writing a book on the big dreams that were specifically meant for you and can be manifested for you as you develop YOU. If you want to know when the FREE book is available, signup to be on my list.