Let Your Life Bloom

The power of place

Do a sensory inventory of the environment you're in right now. Look around. Take it in with your eyes. Make mental notes. Run your hands over the nearest object. Notice the feeling of it. How many windows are nearby? Are they open?

Now start to pay attention to how you feel being inside this place. Does the environment itself have an overall feel to it? What do you like about being here? Anything that feels draining?

We move from place to place - the rooms within our home, transit to work, running errands, houses of friends and family. Often times we don't think too much about the environment we're in, or the power that places have in affecting our health and perception of life. Yet, I bet you can easily call to mind a place you like to be in and one you don't. It's a stark contrast when you do a comparison. A completely different feeling being at a yoga studio than at a football game, yes? Or being at a park as compared to a mall?

We pick up the energy of a place, just like we pick up the energy of other people. When we're in environments that don't suit us, it saps us. The converse is true too.

Our bodies need light, fresh air, and to spend time in places that nourish us in order to stay healthy. This is just as important as eating well, exercising, having supportive relationships, and living your truth. When we purposely choose to be in environments that feel good to us, it's like a tall drink of water on a hot day. Your body just melts into relaxation.

Not experiencing that? Take a look around you and see what you can change so that's the case. Begin making a list of places you like to be in. What do they have in common? Colors? Type of art? Smell? Style of furniture? Start small. Just collecting images on the web that you can visually visit will help you be more at ease with wherever you are.

I love places with lots of light and air streaming in. Windows all around. Trees outside. Modern, clean, warm. Rich colors of orange, yellow, blue, green, red, taupe and creme. Herb, food, & flower gardens bringing in the aromas of fresh, alive, tasty, nutrient rich earth. I love the smell of dirt!

What do you find pleasing about the places you find yourself in (home, work, etc)? What kinds of places would you like to spend more time in? What do they look like and what do you like about them? Share your comments so we can visualize and appreciate too!

If you'd like to learn more about the power of place and the affect environments have on us - physically, mentally, and emotionally, check out the book The Power of Place.

FAQ's about Energy & Intuition

Soon, dare I say 24 hours from now, my new website Get Clear Series will be up and running. It will have the Get Clear energy and intuition series available to purchase as a work at your own pace program. You'll also find many resources about energy and intuition to help you in being clear, strong, resilient, resourceful, and true to yourself. I've got a special running for the Get Clear series at $29 for the whole shebang. That's 8 classes on energy and intuition! This will be thru July 1, 2010. So hop on it. 

In the meantime, I wanted to share a few Frequently Asked Questions about energy and intuition.

Why is important to understand/know about energy?

✿ Helps you quickly gain clarity about what's really going on. You spend less time processing and trying to "figure it out" and can cut right to the core of the issue. It saves you time and grief.

✿ Helps you have a better understanding of where people are coming from instead of taking things personally.

✿ Helps you articulate your true feelings while also feeling safe to do so.

✿ Helps you feel more connected with life and have more compassion for others.

✿ Helps you transform fear and distinguish it from intuition.

✿ Helps you clearly hear your intuition and know what to do in any given situation.

(Read the benefits section to each of the classes & you'll know more about why it's important to understand energy)

How can I know the difference between intuition & fear, especially when there's a chorus of voices in my head telling me what to do?

✿ There are many techniques, physical markers, mental & emotional clues that will help you distinguish between the two. We cover this in the first class of the Get Clear series titled The Basics. You can also read about it in "Connect with Your Intuition in Five Easy Steps."

✿ Consider the perspective that on some level you already know the difference between intuition and fear, and I'm giving you tools to remember what you already know how to do: Transform fear and access intuition.

When you talk about energy, do you mean auras, meridians, and Chakras?

✿ No, that's not what I mean. Though, auras, meridians, and chakras are part of the energy anatomy we all have. You can find more info about those in ancient health & healing systems like Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda which have been around for thousands of years.

✿ The energy I'm referring to is two-fold, including:

1) The amount of energy we have throughout the day, what impacts that, and how to access more so you feel more vibrant and resilient in life.

2) What's happening beneath the surface, the energy dynamics of whatever is going on. For example, why you feel stuck, confused, and not sure how to access answers or create solutions. It's because your energy is scrambled. My goal is to illuminate and therefore, untangle.

I'm stuck. I feel like I've tried everything, including energy work to help me feel better. Nothing seems to be working. What do you suggest?

When I see this happen with clients, or heck even with myself, it's usually one of two issues:

1) Your health is out of balance, scrambling your energy system and creating lots of static with your intuitive antennae. For some, it's as simple as implementing the basics like having healthier food, restful sleep, movement, and drinking enough water, that does the trick. Nothing beats the basics. 

If you make unhealthy choices, especially on a daily basis, you're pretty much setting yourself up to be out of whack. It's a way to sabotage yourself from moving forward and invites in destructive energy from the outside to match the destructive energy you are choosing from an internal perspective. That's the law of attraction in action, for better or for worse.

Note: There are those dealing with health challenges beyond the typical "stuck." More serious physical mental, or emotional issues require trained professionals who are experts in their field. This doesn't mean that you only have the option of going with conventional medicine. There are effective energetic and natural approaches such as homeopathy, acupuncture, flower essences. If this situation applies to you, I'd encourage you to seek help.

2) The other most common reason I see people "stuck" and feeling unable to move the energy is because they are addicted to the trauma and drama of life. There is some payoff for them to continue down the path they are on, otherwise they wouldn't do it. It feels more safe to be in their own discomfort as a victim, blaming themselves or others for what they experience than to step up to the plate and live from a more conscious, empowered perspective.

There's nothing wrong with you if this explanation applies. But wouldn't it be nice to feel more strong, capable, and clear in your life? To have people, work, and environments support you rather than harm you? It's available, always, only you have to choose it.

Being aware, open, and willing to make new choices is the first step in transforming anything. The most skilled healer in the world can only shift your energy for the time that you allow it to happen. If you go straight back to making the same choices - in thought, feeling, energy, and action - then guess what? Right back to where you started before you got the healing session.

Why do you put the word "stuck" in quotation marks?

I do this because being "stuck" isn't actually possible. I hope to convey that in the use of quotation marks. Believe me, I know it feels like it's real. But, it's not. Everything that exists in you, outside of you, and in the universe, is in constant motion, constant creation, constant transformation.

I often think that the reason some people choose lives that appear to be the same, day in day out, is a way to help them feel more at ease with the constant motion happening. Don't we all love a little structure and organization? Chaos is only helpful when we can still feel clear in the midst of it. That's part of my intention in offering you the Get Clear series.

If you want to learn more about energy and intuition, you can:

• Purchase the Get Clear series (take advantage of the special, $29 through July 1, 2010) 
• Have a Get Clear intuitive reading with me, in 30, 60, or 90 minute options
• Read the Get Clear series and intuition posts
• Watch the Get Clear videos

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Did you get your questions answered? If not, do share them below and I'll see what magic I can work up for the answers.

When forgiving yourself feels like the hardest thing to do

This morning I woke up at 4:44 a.m. I don't know too much about the symbology of numbers or numerology itself. But I do know that the number 4 reminds me of my great grandma, Grandma Alta. Right before I woke up, I had been dreaming about her.

I could list a whole slew of memories I have of her. From her holding me & twirling around, as a 1 year old, singing "I love you a bushel and a peck, a bushel and a peck, and a hug around the neck," to being in her 90s while she laid in bed, waiting for death, reading The Red Tent "Just a little light reading, Dear."

The one memory that surfaces almost every time I think of her is the one where she offered me her wedding ring, and I refused. It wasn't because I was trying to be nice. Or that I was too honored to accept. No. It was completely, utterly due to self-absorption and a lack of knowing how to be a gracious receiver. The reason why I refused? It was gold. I, at my ripe old age of 19, didn't like gold. I liked silver. When I dreamed about my wedding ring, it was silver not gold. What a jerk, right?

That's what I woke up thinking, and crying about, this morning. It is one of my life experiences that I have the hardest time forgiving myself for.

This is my grandma. My grandma who came to the U.S. via horse and carriage when she was 5. My grandma who was revered in the Oakland community for her volunteer fundraising service, so much so that the Bay Area chapter of the American Cancer Society threw her a party for her 90th birthday and called her an angel. My grandma who had kids and grandkids and great grandkids. My grandma who was married to my Grandpa Meyer for 62 years, who kissed his picture every day since he died and said, "Hello Dear, I miss you sweetheart, how are you doing today?"

She offers me her wedding ring... and I say no with the stupidest reason ever to back up my decision. This does not add up in my mind. Even the minute after it happened, my response made no sense to me. But I couldn't change it, the opportunity had been lost.

I have been carrying a heavy dose of shame, regret, and anger at myself, for years over this. Seventeen, to be precise. I hadn't realized to what degree until it showed up for me so strongly this morning. Part of me feels like a big dork for holding on to it, and even more so, for sharing it here. But hey, if my disclosure helps you heal, then, worth it.

At what point do you choose to let something go? Something you've been holding on to for so long that it feels like it's a part of you versus just an experience you had. Logically, I know holding things in isn't healthy. Nor is emotional regret and baggage. Logically, I also know that being willing to forgive is the first step in being able to. I'll be honest with you, I didn't want to let it go. I didn't want to forgive myself. I didn't even want to be willing to. Through my tears, I really, really, really wanted to stay angry at myself over this.

Have you ever felt this way?

Over the years, as I've worked with people and listened to their reasons as to why they think they're stuck or what they think is in the way of them moving forward, it was completely obvious to me that those issues were self-created and could therefore be self-transcended. Each of those reasons though, were tied to some memory, some aspect of their life experience that they couldn't seem to forgive themselves for. It was like they were frozen in time when recalling it. The details were as vivid as if they were happening right then in the moment.

I knew, that until they were ready to forgive themselves, they would keep bumping up against that experience and use it as a stronghold to justify where they were in life, as if to say "See, I'm a bad person, I don't deserve this good life I know how to create." Which really means, "I don't deserve happiness." In order to have/allow that, there was some self-forgiveness in order.

Apparently, I found out this morning, I'm no different.

Despite knowing that forgiveness can happen in an instant, I'm choosing to let it unfold piece by piece. Maybe that's how you choose to, too. I cried a bunch. I apologized to my grandma. I said I was willing to forgive myself (I didn't totally mean it). I asked my light family (angels, guides, etc.) to help me forgive myself. I took some deep breaths. I thanked my logic for helping remind me that self-forgiveness is good for my health, happiness, and sense of freedom in life.

I do feel a little bit better. I hope you do too, towards anything you need/want to forgive. Because I'll tell you what, the more we can do this for ourselves, the more we can do it for others. It goes hand in hand with compassion. And at the heart of it, isn't that what we all want? To feel loving, forgiving, connected, understanding, whole, happy, present.

What are you longing to forgive yourself for? Do it now. I will too.

Sing your song to the world

Have you ever gotten a song stuck in your head? For better or worse, you find yourself doing mental loops on certain phrases. Well, I say use it to your advantage! Solidify your affirmations through song. Release your inner dancing geek. Use it to get out of the ya-ya chatter of the mind. Let it help you find your purpose.

Think of who you are and what you do as your song to the world. Are you in tune? What's the melody like? I once read that in certain cultures, when you are born, the community sings "your" song to you. If you ever miss the mark/fall off the path (the original Latin meaning of sin), your community will sing you back into balance, back to yourself,  by helping you remember your song. What a lovely tradition.

The past few days, I've had one of my favorite songs stuck in my head, looping on the part "Always remember, never forget, what we give is what we get." It popped in one night when I was falling asleep, and was still there the next morning. It's been my guide as I move through the day, becoming the theme in all I do. And in doing so, it has become part of my song because I'm expressing the concept through me. What if you mapped out your week, not starting with To Do lists, but with a chosen song as a theme for the day? See how you could bring it to everything you do.

My song is MC Yogi's Give Love. I can't not dance to it. I can't help but feel good when I hear it. Best part of all is approaching people, activities, nature, food, appointments, etc. through the lens of "How can I give love to this?" and seeing how they respond to the energy I'm putting out there. It's a beautiful thing. Listen to the song, and start to see all the ways you can bring love to the world. See how what you're doing and who you are is already an act of love.

Is it time for a Spring cleaning of your life? Here's how:

As some of you may know, I'm in the midst of a move, a big - to a new state - one. Very exciting, and quite fabulous to clear out 50% of my belongings. Talk about Spring cleaning! Are you ready to Spring clean your own life? Let's do it! I'm on a roll...

There's a few more spaces for those ready to become healthier, more energized, in touch with their intuition, and have fun while doing so. Grab them now, my May schedule is booking fast!

You can see what clients have said about working with me here and here (scroll partway down the page). Then, visit Let's Work Together to see if you're a good fit for working with me.

And now, let's get started:

The Get Healthy program

The Get Clear energy & intuition series

Services a la carte via CoachVanessa.com:

• Get Healthy assessment
• Get Clear intuitive reading
• Watch Your Life Bloom Coaching session
• Intro package (combo of 3 above)

Services a la carte via IntuitiveFoodie.com:

• Party in the pantry
• What the heck are you eating?
• Becoming an intuitive foodie
• Let's go virtual food shopping
• Fabulous Foodie intro package

As always, you can chat me up on Twitter, join me on Facebook, comment on past blog posts, and drop me a line to let me know how your life is blooming. Thank you for stopping by, talk with you soon!

Why eating healthy is incredibly important

Before I started watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, I assumed that everybody knew the importance of eating healthy foods. Even if you choose not to, at least you know that increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables in your diet will do nothing but help you be well, and ultimately, enjoy life more. What surprised me most in this show was the lack of interest and even defensiveness displayed by some of the folks about changing their diet. Perhaps too much processed food impacted their ability to be open and kind? It has been known to happen. That's another post though.

Why eating healthy is incredibly important:

Food affects your body.

I know, wild concept here. It provides energy, gas for the car to go. What's really happening is this - when you assimilate the nutrients of food you eat, the cells and systems of your body are nourished. This helps the different parts of your body to do their job effectively and aids your body, overall, to function properly. When this happens, you then have increased energy, which allows you to be the best you in the world (or at least sets the stage so you have the option to choose that route).

If you eat crap that is devoid of nutrients, nutrients your body truly needs, a few things happen - 

1) You mess with your body's chemistry. Hormones go wacky. Your health becomes unstable mentally, emotionally, and physically. I often wonder how many people on prescription medications for anxiety, depression, and a whole host of other imbalances really just need a diet change.

2) You mess with your ability to hear your intuition clearly. We are all equipped with this sixth sense. Our inner knowing is the only compass we need to make the best choice for us in any moment, in any circumstance. If you gunk up the channel with crap food, you might as well invite fear, mental chaos, and emotional roller coasters to run your life. Knock it off, the world needs you.

3) You become the opposite kind of role model you really want to be. Whether you realize it or not. You are a role model to all those around you. They are picking up on your behavior, reacting to it, and even embodying the same vibe you're putting out there. You may think that your choice of food isn't affecting how you act, but think again. Try one week of eating healthy, whole, organic, seasonal food. Cut out the simple carbs and sugar. Add in some good fat and fermentation. You'll be amazed at the difference.

4) You set the stage and create the highly likely outcome of illness. Most of the prevalent diseases in our culture are preventable and diet related. Obesity. Cancer. Heart disease. Consistent practice of eating crap can cut your life short and make the journey a heck of a lot less enjoyable. I don't know about you, but I want to go out on a high, healthy note after having had a fulfilling life.

There are lots and lots more reasons why eating healthy is incredibly important. It allows you to vote with your fork, becoming a conscious consumer and active participant in shaping many industries (health system, health insurance, food industry, local economy, and more). It has a positive impact on the environment when you eat locally, with less packaging. It supports farmers, the people that grow the real food.

And this point is so important, I have to make it twice. When you eat healthy, there is less need for prescription meds because you are no longer creating illness that "requires" meds to mediate. Not only will that make your quality of life better, it also gets the toxicity of those meds out of our waterways and landfills. Toxic = bad. Bad for you. Bad for the planet.

It's a profit based industry. Less need/demand for these 5 pages of side effects meds ("Are you depressed? If so, take this med. Be warned, it may make you more depressed and want to kill yourself.") means that you are literally running this industry out of business. Let me be clear, mainstream medicine including prescription drugs may be the right route for you, only you can make that decision. What I'm knocking is the excessive use of toxic drugs when a simple change in diet will work wonders.

Education is absolutely essential in changing habits of any nature. Inspiration has its place too. I hope this post has done both. The question that I sit with, for those that are struggling with or don't care about making a shift to a healthier way of eating is - What's up with that? Really, why is it that you choose food that harms you instead of supports you? And how can we, as individuals, as a community, as a culture get our personal and collective self-worth higher up on the love scale so we make choices that reflect how much we value life and ourselves?

I'm ready to treat myself and you with the love and respect we all deserve, and I'm starting via my food choices. How about you?

Gassy? Chew on this.

It's cool, you can admit it. Everybody farts. I happen to be one of those people who thinks its hysterical. Unless of course, I unknowingly walk through a cloud of someone else's funk. Then it's not so funny. It just stinks.

I'll do my best to not be a 12 year old boy when it comes to talking about this most important subject. Because it relates directly to health and how well you are digesting your food. So, if you find yourself in the bathroom, embarrassed by the acoustics and wondering how in the world your body can produce noises like that, then this is the post for you. 

To help you keep the sound and smell to a minimum:

Chew on fennel seeds. You can eat them before, during, or after your meal. You can also drop a few into hot water and sip fennel tea. This helps stimulate and aid digestion, resulting in a less upset tummy.

Chew your food well. The more you chew, the more digestive enzymes get released in your saliva, mixing with the food and making it easier to breakdown. More on the importance of chewing here.

Eat slowly. It takes approximately 20 minutes for your stomach to communicate to your brain that you're full. When you eat fast, you tend to eat more, burdening your digestive system with too much food and not allowing it to do its job.

Just eat. Many people eat while multitasking. While it may feel normal or even necessary to do so, it's one of the worst things you can do to your body. It's essentially creating an environment of stress, where all systems are a go and your focus is on many things at once. Again, this impacts how well the food is digested. When food doesn't get digested properly, it ferments in your belly, which makes you gassy.

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There are lots more tips and tricks to minimize gas and maximize nourishment. To learn more, have a Get Healthy session with me. Or any one of the Intuitive Foodie's services will set you free from excessive stink for good!

Updates: Get healthy, get clear, watch your life bloom

Hello blog friends. I'm happy to announce that the Coach Vanessa site is now up! Yay. Hop on over and take a look. One of the newest additions that you'll find is the menu of services. You can now order up a single serving of a Get Healthy, Get Clear, or Watch Your Life Bloom session with me.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I do what I do because I love it. I love seeing the results of people feeling better about life - healthier, with a strong sense of clarity, and knowing more of what's possible. It's good stuff.

Integrative Wellness Works will continue to be up. How can it not?! It's the home of the Get Healthy program and the Get Clear series, plus more (just check out the menu bar above). That's my original baby. I'm also working on a few projects behind the scenes that have to do with the intuition-food connection, being an empowered health consumer, the magic of dreams, the importance of storytelling, helping other holistic health professionals spread their message online, and a few others I have up my sleeve.

Enjoy! Back to regular blogging soon.

Eat this cheesecake

Sweets have always been a special treat for me. Growing up, after every holiday, my Dad and I had a ritual where we would go to Long's and fill up a cart with holiday sale candy. Yes, a whole cart! The fun didn't stop there. We'd then hide it in different places in the house so my Mom wouldn't find it and try to feed us carrots instead. Months after my Dad died, my sister and I found a drawer full of Easter candy - so we stuffed our faces with Cadbury eggs and marshmallow peeps, crying, laughing, and chewing.

That's one of my favorite memories. Though, these days I feel sick just smelling the chemicals and processed ingredients from the candy aisle (in a non health food store). Luckily, there are many healthy alternatives that are made with recognizable, whole foods based ingredients that are incredibly delicious...and I have happily stumbled upon another example of that. 

Earth Cafe makes an amazing raw, vegan cheesecake in 9 flavors. I've already tried Rockin' Raspberry, Peach Passion, Cali Lemon, and Cherry Dream. It's not possible to pick a favorite.

The first person that can spot my error in this video wins a free session with me! Leave a comment noting it as well as your favorite healthy dessert. Cheers!

Got health insurance?

Well, you can now add me to the growing list of people who were denied health insurance coverage. Now, it's personal.

I debated (internally) whether I would post this on my blog as I've generally liked to stay more on the educational, inspirational, and resource giving level. Recently though, I've had way more of a longing to bring my own walk of the talk into the game. To show behind the scenes of how I stay healthy and use my intuition.

So here we are, a personal account and a professional take on what it's like to truly take care of yourself in today's world. This is the first of many to blend these perspectives. Back to the health insurance...

I've gone for years without any, occasionally opting in when I worked for companies that offered group plans. My lack of insurance didn't stem from being anti-mainstream medicine. Ok, it did a little. Truth is, if it weren't for mainstream medicine, I wouldn't be alive. It saved my life many years ago. For that, I am very grateful.

In the past few months, I decided getting health insurance would be good for emergency purposes and as a back up plan for upcoming baby making time. After filling out extensive forms, waiting 6 weeks, having a long question answering session with health insurance reps, I was denied coverage. And ironically, if I had been approved, gotten pregnant after being approved, moved out of state (which is the plan in the next few months), I would not only no longer be covered by the health insurance but I would not be able to get any insurance in the new state because I'd have a pre-existing condition of being pregnant. Follow me on that?

Yeah, so we all know the health care system and the health insurance system is not healthy. It's a national hot topic and crisis. My story of being denied is common. I'm glad that's as ugly as it gets. Many suffer a far worse fate than coverage denial at the hands of what this system has turned into.

My intention in writing this post is not to elicit sympathy nor other grievances around what's not working. My intention is to acknowledge what's happening, and ask, from a personal and professional standpoint:

What can we do to care for ourselves? 

What would thriving and vibrant health look like for each one of us?

How can we create our own form of health insurance through easily accessible, natural, and non-invasive methods?

These questions and many more are ones I'll be answering for myself. Please join me, I'd love to hear what you're doing to take care of yourself, what holistic methods you know about, and your thoughts of how we can use what's broken to spur on solutions of a healthcare system - government sanctioned or not - that would work for all.