In This Edition

Quote of the Week

“There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden or even your bathtub.” ~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Personal Note from Cheryl

P.S.  Welcome to all the new readers that have joined our community!  You’re going to love the resources you’ll find here!  Enjoy!

Cheryl Recommends

Energy Medicine Workshop

For those of you who could not attend the Energy Medicine workshop last month, I am offering this fabulous evening workshop again on Thursday, February 23rd 6:30-9:00 pm. It will change your life – I promise. Come and learn fabulous techniques for balancing your body’s energies and experience optimal health, joy and vitality! It is 2.5 hours, $55.00 and a great investment in your long term wellness. Here are a few details: Our lives are hectic, leaving us with little time for proper self-care.  We all need to learn to take charge of our own health. This workshop is about awakening the healer within each of us. The course will teach you about the energy that is within and around you, and how it flows in your body. This energy can become stagnant or blocked, adversely affecting our health. Each of us, within our own body has the innate ability to heal ourselves and experience optimum health. You can easily learn how to do this for yourself! In this class you will learn the techniques for a daily 5-minute routine. The routine can be easily incorporated into anyone’s daily schedule, no matter how hectic it may be. It is easy to learn, and can be done anywhere: while traveling, in the shower or bathtub, or at your desk. The exercises in the 5-minute routine help to: •    boost your energy •    calm your mind and emotions •    provide mental clarity •    increase your endurance and stamina •    strengthen your immune system •    balance your energies •    sharpen your memory … and much more! Date: Thursday Feb 23rd Time: 6:30 – 9:00 pm

Feature Article

Ways to Cope When You Really Need a Get Away

My quote this week speaks of finding that deep place of silence within ourselves right where we are… without the need to go somewhere else to find it. I agree with the quote in many ways, however, I believe that individual circumstances help determine what plan of action might be best in each case. How do you relax and cope when you need to find peace? When is the right time to go on vacation or do something wonderful for yourself? How do you find the place of silence for yourself? Stop for a moment and reflect on these questions please. This is important stuff – we all need to establish our own unique ways of handling the stress of life – the things that save us when we are sinking. Ask yourself: “What do I do to cope when I am under stress, when I really need a vacation or time off, but cannot escape right now?” May I offer a few suggestions? There are a few ways I have found to help me find my centre, my inner silence, and my answers. I have a selection of favourite books where I have marked pages that inspire me and remind me of the truth. I love restorative or peace themed Yoga classes, meditation, long walks in nature, or simply sitting and allowing my mind and body to settle. There is no need to grasp for the quiet, the peace or the answers; instead let it softly come to in the quiet places that you create for yourself. When we grasp in desperation we are not going to acquire what we seek, we have not created the space for that to occur. Try this. Look at one of your hands right now and clench it into a tight fist. It feels slightly painful and restrictive right? Now gently open your hand and release your fingers. The release of the grip is the letting go and feels comforting. It creates space for energy to move. We cannot reach for what we want or need with restriction – like the clenched fist. We do the same with our minds and our bodies… we constrict and restrict the flow of energy. Your hand clenched in a fist represents how we often approach life… we are closed and cut off and yet still trying to move. Now try this: close your eyes and breathe, take a few slow deep abdominal breaths, breathing through your nose allowing the belly to rise on an in breath and lower as you exhale. As you breathe, begin to scan your body – beginning with the top of your head moving down slowly toward your toes. As you do so (and this gets easier the more often you do it) try to notice if there are any areas that feel tight, restricted, or where you might be gripping or hanging on. Notice your jaw and forehead, the back of your neck, your shoulders, rib cage, abdomen, internal organs, hands and feet. Your body is like your fist… it can feel tight and unyielding. Now take that breath and allow it to flow to the areas of your body where you noted the tightness. Every time you exhale, blow out the tense or negative energy that you feel. Take the breath in slowly to each area, exhaling the tension each time you move to a new area. You may have to take several breaths before you feel a release. Notice how much looser you feel, how your jaw has loosened. (It has been said that we grip through the entire digestive system from our jaw right through to the anus area.) We want to soften those areas to allow for the flow of breath and energy in the body. The softening allows the stress to leave the body and to feel some tangible relief. This will help you cope when you are feeling the everyday stresses of life. The more you do this scanning exercise the better you will become at it. Breathing like this and being aware of where you might be gripping internally will give you a useful exercise to help reduce stress. It might help calm you on a regular basis and help you stay present right where you are instead of dreaming of vacation time. Being aware of the state of your physical body will assist you in calming your emotions and helping to reduce mind chatter… the breath affects us in all areas of who we are: mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. When we let go, we surrender… we come to a place of trust that lets us know that life will unfold as it needs to. The hanging on, or gripping or grasping, is restrictive and does not allow the space for ideas to form, for solutions, for direction, for peace and calm. Many places in Europe have it right. If you are stressed or unwell your employer will send you to a spa for up to 6 weeks. The treatments are often holistic in nature which heals at the cause instead of placing a bandage on a symptom. Our vacation time in North America is more limited in the time we can take off. We have to therefore find ways to have an inner vacation from time to time. If you need a vacation, what do you need the vacation for? Take a moment to think about that: are you exhausted or overworked, are you running and keeping too busy? What kind of vacation will best suit your purposes: do you need to explore, read and relax, be taken care? Make sure you book exactly what you need. Many people come back exhausted from packing too much in. Try to allow yourself time to be, to unwind, to settle down – and make sure you have at least one day free to get organized when you return before you go back to work. I hear people say all the time: I am glad to be back at work – I am exhausted. We are “on” all the time in this society of ours; email, voicemail, TV, texting, without a break. All of that is taxing on the nervous system and creates more stress. Our bodies were not designed to live like this. On my mini vacation I found that despite my best intentions my days were starting to get too booked. So, one afternoon, I relaxed on the couch in my room near the fireplace and did absolutely nothing for the entire afternoon. Our impulse is to tell ourselves we need to be more active, to do something… anything. Our minds tell us we are lazy. We need reminders every once in a while that we are human beings, not human doings. Ways to cope now:

• Find your favourite books – the ones that inspire you – and keep them handy.
• Take hot Epsom salt baths with lavender to detox and calm.
• Have a good stock of your favourite teas on hand.
• Buy some meditation cd’s or music that relaxes you.
• Take a day and go to a day spa nearby for one day or a weekend.
• Take a few hours in your gardens.
• Have several types of practitioner on file to help you regain balance when you need it.

When you find yourself in that place of needing a vacation, make sure you know why you need the time away from work and make sure you take the type of break you truly desire. In the meantime ensure you have coping strategies that work for you until you can get away. Try not to postpone your joy. Live your best life now. And know that I am here for you along the way to help you discover the wondrous you that is in there. It is always less about changing and more about uncovering the you that exists right now! Testimonials from some of my students: I will be ever grateful for the “jumpstart” Reiki and you gave to my life! I can hardly believe all the changes that fell into place with that as the starting place. I have never been so happy, or filled with joy and contentment in my life. Good things keep happening to me! I understand what and why, and boy oh boy am I enjoying the ride! (I’m practically giddy some days!) I’ve been coasting along at a “nine” on a scale of one to ten, for well over a month or so. I hope you continue to open the door in others’ lives as well, for some time to come! S.E. Kingston, Ontario I have been fantastic since the workshop. My whole perspective on everything has been shifted. I am journaling, doing self-care treatments, and doing A LOT of reading about different things like the chakras and so on. C.S. Kingston, Ontario

Where is Cheryl

Upcoming workshops & events:

February February 16 – Reiki Share (6:30 – 9:00) Enroll & Pay Now February 18 – The Chakras (9:30 – 4:30) Enroll & Pay Now February 19 – Healing with Crystals (9:30 – 4:30) Enroll & Pay Now February 23 – Energy Medicine Workshop (6:30 – 9:00) Enroll & Pay Now February 25/26 – Reiki: Second Degree Class (9:30 – 4:30) Enroll & Pay Now March March 3/4 – Reiki: Third Degree Class (9:30 – 4:30) Enroll & Pay Now March 17 – Integrated Energy Therapy: Basic Level (9:30 – 5:30) Enroll & Pay Now March 18 – Integrated Energy Therapy: Intermediate Level (9:30 – 5:30) Enroll & Pay Now March 24/25 – Reiki: First Degree Class (9:30 – 5:30) Enroll & Pay Now March 31 – Healing Angels of the Energy Field (IET) (9:30 – 5:30) Enroll & Pay Now And stay tuned for upcoming teleclasses and spring retreats with me!!

Your Wellness Tip

Wear a Haramaki. I love them!

So what is haramaki, anyway? Loosely translated, haramaki comes from the Japanese words hara, meaning the center of the body, and maki, meaning ‘to wrap up’, much in the same way a maki sushi roll is wrapped up. The word haramaki refers to what was historically a Samurai armor which gradually evolved into a special tubular garment that is worn around the midsection of the body as a belly warmer. Why wear haramaki? Haramaki is worn to increase circulation in the internal organs, which generates warmth throughout the entire body. Once worn mainly as an undergarment in Japan, haramaki has seen a resurgence in recent years in Japanese fashion, acting as both a fashion and health accessory. What about for running? As any serious runner knows, winter can sometimes be tricky when it comes to dressing for a run. You might start off bundled up and end up with a jacket (or two!) wrapped around your waist by the end of your run. Haramakis are very useful because they provide a lot of warmth without any extra bulk, making it possible to wear fewer layers, all the while staying warm and protected. For more info and to purchase one: http://www.haramakilove.com

About Cheryl