September 2017

28 September 2017

If you are anything like me, the days go by too fast and you find yourself running through the day without stopping to take in the beauty of nature.   Is it just me?

Today, I was lucky enough to interview Zoe Gillis, who I consider to be the MASTER of combining mindfulness with a wilderness practice. She combines hiking, backpacking and camping with Mindfulness and Meditation as a way to get a deeper understanding of our self and each other.  It is BRILLIANT stuff and it makes me want to pack my bags and go camp in the dessert right now!

Zoe is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a wilderness guide who is the founder of Z Adventures.   Z Adventures thrives on the belief that we need to disconnect before we can connect and step out into the wilderness more often.

During this podcast, Zoe and I discuss:

• Ways to introduce nature into your mindfulness practice.
• How being in nature can help us identify how we see ourselves
• How being in nature can help us identify our strengths and weaknesses.
• The benefits of doing short vs. longer wilderness activities

This is possibly one of my favorite episodes so far, so check it out!

Click HERE to watch the interview on YouTube

You can learn more about Zoe Gillis or Z Adventures at the below links:

Zadventures.life

http://www.zoegillis.com/

https://www.facebook.com/zadventuresla/

https://www.instagram.com/z_adventures/?hl=en

21 September 2017

How to Heal Self-Blame with Self-Forgiveness using Ho’oponopono Meditation

If you are anything like me, you are quick to blame yourself for any of the below reasons:

• You have not achieved some level or expectation.
• You tried to better yourself and you “failed.”
• You made a mistake (unintentional) or had an accident (I call this, “You Did a human” AKA Making a human mistake)
• Especially for you, if you have OCD; You have “bad” thoughts, intrusive thoughts, thoughts you deem “unacceptable.”
• You feel like you are a BAD person who doesn’t EVER deserve to be forgiven.
• You are attempting to work through your mental health issues.
• You struggle to do exposures or follow some treatment goal.
• You experience self-disgust (for having pimples, cellulite, intrusive thoughts etc.

My main message in this podcast is this:

HUMANS ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE PERFECT!

HUMANS ARE ALWAYS AND FOREVER GOING TO MAKE MISTAKES!

This podcast details a practice called Ho’oponopono.  Ho-oponopon is a spiritual practice of harmony between people, nature and spirit that has been used in Hawaiian and other Polynesian cultures for centuries.

Ho’oponopono Key Concept: We can heal our own wounds and then we can then go out and heal our world.

Ho’oponopono Meditation Foundation:

I’m sorry.

Please forgive me.

I love you.

Thank you.

Here are some ridiculous reason to not practice Self-Forgiveness:

1. You only deserve Self-Forgiveness after you make the world better (giving service to others).
2. If you forgive myself, you will stop caring and let yourself go and become and even worse person.
3. Once you are perfect, then you can forgive yourself.
4. If you blame myself first, it will hurt less if someone else blames you or notices your imperfections.

Please do not let these reason stop you from freeing yourself from Self-Blame.

Give it a try and see if it works for you! I found it to be a very powerful practice.

Have a great week!