Category Archives: Beliefs

Age is an Attitude

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Check out my latest article on VibrantLikeMe.com. Sandra Walsh is an amazingly vibrant woman doing her part to share the latest health research and empowered lifestyle information to a community of thoughtful, open and engaged women. Check out her site and begin celebrating your vibrant life!

Age is an Attitude

My grandmother loves to tell anyone who will listen how terrible it is to grow old. She believes she is old, so she feels old. I can only soothe my Grandmother and make her laugh, but I know something that she was never told.

Let me share a powerful, life altering fact with all you vibrant women out there – Age is an Attitude! We’re only as old as we think we are, and our thoughts are the energy that creates our attitude.

As you can see from person to person, we all age at different rates and with different areas of struggle and ease. Many people like to attribute our aging to genetics and our family medical history. And while, yes, these things can be contributing factors, much more powerful and completely within your control is your attitude.

Having a sunny disposition isn’t always easy, but is always worth the effort. We may feel frustrated or irritated with a current situation or nagging condition but when we learn what fuels these feelings, shifting the circumstance becomes child’s play.

Our powerful energy

Success or failure in money, love, relationships, health and happiness begins and ends with the energy we carry around in our bodies.

Energy is behind all circumstances in our lives.

As children we pick up this energy from our parents and society around us. We learn to say, do and focus the way our parents and other influential adults did. As we grow up our discernment is heightened and developed to allow us to make different decisions and recognize more clearly what feels good to us.

It may take some of us longer to know what feels good for us; as women we have historically been “taught” to spend our time and energy caring for and worrying over others. When our parents, children and spouses take center stage in our lives we can completely lose touch with who we may be outside of our relationships with them.

Taking the time to cultivate an awareness of what feels good to us and what we want to do is paramount to our living a “young” and happy life.

Focus on you

Appreciate your deep capacity to love and care for others and then turn that powerful focus on yourself. Begin to notice your thoughts.

Are you soothing and uplifting yourself in your mind or are you beating yourself up for not being, doing or having more?
What ways are you already supporting the healthy happy life you want? In what ways could you be better?
What baby steps could you take to move yourself closer to the kind of self-care that will actually support you in thriving rather than just surviving?

Here are a few suggestions:

Watch what you think. Of course, what you ingest (food, media, conversations, etc.) makes a difference, but even more important is how you feel about what you’re doing. What are your thoughts telling you? Do you feel like life is working out for you or are you on a hamster wheel of negativity? These thoughts will lend great insight into whether what you are currently doing is working or not.

Find the feeling. When you are upset, nervous, sad, worried or frustrated take a moment to locate that feeling physically in your body. Is it in your stomach, chest, heart or throat? This is the energy behind the situation. Relax and give your brain a rest for a moment, tell it you’ll think about the problems later. Give yourself a moment to breathe and feel through the physical sensations of your upset. As the feeling passes you’ll have access to more productive thoughts.

Self Soothe. Our minds are always focused on what’s wrong. Once you’re able to fully recognize and acknowledge this you can stop worrying about all the things you think are wrong. Just like you don’t get mad at the mailman for delivering mail, you can stop fretting over the barrage of thoughts you are confronted with daily. You can change your focus by relaxing, breathing and moving through difficult moments and emotions throughout your day. Tell yourself, “It’s OK. Everything is always working out for me. Bless my heart this feeling is intense. I’m OK. It’s all OK.”

Meditate daily. Ideally 20 minutes twice a day, morning and evening. Let that be something you work up to if it feels too daunting or overwhelming. Start out with 5 or even 3 minutes to get yourself started. Remember you’re not doing it wrong if you have thoughts while meditating. You’ll get to the point that your thoughts slow down greatly, but in the beginning, just being aware of the tone and direction of your thoughts will help.

As you begin supporting yourself in this way you will notice yourself being drawn to food, people, supplements, make-up lines and products that you feel good about. You will notice yourself feeling better about yourself and celebrating with gratitude the gifts in your daily life.

Take some time for yourself every day – no one else can do it for you!

Make a Decision

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Recognizing what your mind is doing is the best way to change any situation.

When you notice what’s happening in your mind you can take steps to correct it.

Our brain is protecting us during our every waking moment. Protecting us by remembering every bad thing that happens so we won’t forget and put ourselves in similar positions that might allow us to be hurt again.

This is a function of our brain. Yours and mine. Every brain.

And by getting hurt I also mean getting our feelings hurt.

Since we’re no longer in mortal danger, (most living in houses with a roof over our heads and locks on our doors,) our personal feelings have become the minds focus.

Have you ever noticed how often our emotional response to a situation is way more than the situation should call for? A missed date or flippant comment can bring us to our knees emotionally, reminding us of other hurt we’ve endured.

If you can take a step back from the very up close and personal story about why you’re upset and recognize what’s happening electrochemically and energetically in your brain and body, you’d awaken to the real reality of the situation.

I’ve written a couple of blogs about getting mad or sad about something and then making a decision with that energy behind it.

But, I’m here to tell you, you don’t have to get mad or sad. Just make a decision.

You are only at the mercy of anything to whatever extent you believe you are. And all of those beliefs are false so start taking a look at them.

What do you want?

I’m here to help.

Love and Blessings,
Crystal

Perspective is Everything.

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My perspective - Straight Up (through the trees at Hoyt Arboretum)

My perspective – Straight Up (through the trees at Hoyt Arboretum, Portland OR)

per·spec·tive

/pərˈspektiv/
noun: perspective

A particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.

The thing about life is this…. you get what you expect.

If you have a great outlook and positive attitude, it’s likely you’re pretty happy in your life. You expect things to work out for you and they usually do. Maybe not in the way you first thought you wanted, but ultimately you realize that what has happened is actually better than what you’d previously hoped for. Life is like that.

If you are negatively focused and cynical, life is probably a bitch and then you’ll die. You expect things to be irritating and annoying and they usually are. The jerk at the drive through gave you the wrong order, you’re always driving behind some other jerk on the highway and all the people you work with are idiots. No one ever does their part so that you can do yours and you usually end up having to do it all because that’s just your luck. You’re the only person that knows and does it right so you get stuck doing it. Life is like that.

“The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe.”

― Albert Einstein

You get what you expect, think about most often and focus on.

It’s simple.

Your perspective creates your reality.

If you think the world is out to get you, it is.

If you think the world is loving and supporting you, it is.

That’s why everyone’s lives are so different. Have you noticed how members of the same family can be so different? Raised in the same home with much of the same environmental triggers but some turn out happy, healthy or wealthy while others are unhappy, sick or poor.

We personally create our own reality whether we are aware of it or not.

If you find yourself being stuck in negative loops of bad service, poor health, liars and cheats, poverty, abuse, judgment or neglect, take a deep breath and relax. Maybe you have plenty of money or the relationship of your dreams but you’re still not happy, you take a deep breath too. All truly is well and you can have what you want.

It may be difficult for you to believe at first, but it’s quite easy to change once you know how to do it.

Give yourself the happiest, healthiest, most loving and abundant life you can imagine by noticing and releasing destructive habits of thought; Keep reaching for that better feeling perspective.

How do you find a better perspective?

First, you have to release the old energy that makes you think the crappy perspective you have now is the only one.

When you’re in the middle of a crisis or bad situation, the energy of it is flowing mightily through your body. Learn to let that energy (of things not being what you want) move through without holding on to it and your fresh new perspective presents itself.

You can absolutely do it for yourself, but lots of folks need some help. I’m here to empower you to live the life you want. It’s absolutely available to you.

All my love,
Crystal

Create the life you want in 2014 – Sessions with Crystal

New Year, New Rules

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Sending health, happiness and prosperity to you!

Sending health, happiness and prosperity to you!

Happy New Year dear friends! Here’s to 2014 being your best year yet!

Do you really truly know what drives you? What compels you to make the decisions you do? I want you to think about the unspoken rules you live by and if they are working for you or against you.

So many of our beliefs(rules), make our lives more difficult than necessary. But, what if they aren’t true? How do you know?

What if there were an easy way to figure it out?

Good news… there is.

Once we take an honest look at the “rules” that govern the way we live our lives we get to consciously decide if they work for us or if maybe they are someone else’s rules we picked up by default and could change with ease.

What unexamined beliefs do you have that silently keep you on the hamster wheel of same stuff, different day? What false beliefs did you pick up in childhood or your early life that don’t allow you to experience the success you see in others?

Good girls don’t. Some folks can, but I can’t. The other shoe is about to drop. I’m not good enough. I don’t have what it takes. You have to work hard to make good money. Our bodies are meant to decline. I don’t know how. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. It’s impossible. I’m not smart enough. Girls wear pink and play with dolls. Boys take out the trash and mow the lawn. Daddy’s don’t stick around. Men are no good. Women are only after your money. Nothing good ever lasts. Expect the worst so you won’t be disappointed. Things never work out for me. I have terrible luck. You can’t find good help around here. All I deal with are liars and cheats. Nobody wants to work anymore. If you want it done right you have to do it yourself. I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.

Most of us don’t really believe all of these statements, but too many people don’t realize the energetic feelings behind this false information is quietly and surely shaping your life and experiences.

Do you have a hard time hiring someone only to have them leave a few months after proving a valuable asset to your team or organization? Maybe you are struggling to get pregnant or hoping to find a life partner or career that pays your bills and fulfills your soul. Wouldn’t it be nice to know why it hasn’t worked out thus far and how to get yourself on track to letting it in?

There is a reason you are experiencing the blocks in your life and the right perspective can change everything. Learn how and why you look at life the way you do now and discover just how easy it is to change that.

Buying into the idea that struggle is honorable and hard work has to be painful is definitely old paradigm.

Welcome to 2014! Science has shown us in great detail how this world truly works and it’s a waste of your good life to continue operating from the limited knowledge and understanding of the 1800’s.

Not to worry…. Help is on the way!

Stay tuned in the next few weeks for my new Online Self-Paced Course.

The Energy Element Online Course

This informative and uplifting course will be a great way for you to begin delving into the new paradigm of ease and flow at your convenience at your own pace, in your own home.

You’ll discover the biggest block to your happiness and how to release it. You’ll find out what keeps you from getting that promotion, relationship or new body you’ve been wanting and working so hard for.

You’ll also find out why you’re never satisfied, even when you get what you want and the trick to being happy, no matter what.

I’ll give you all the information, resources and activities you need to get your life moving in a whole new direction. Find out what truly works for you and how to allow yourself to create the life of your dreams rather than re-creating the same limitations, frustrations and irritations that have plagued you for years.

Learn the real rules for living the life you want in 2014. They are not what you think and it’s way easier than what you’ve previously been doing to try and make big changes in your life. Here’s a secret you’ll learn about the rules… you get to make them up. I’ll teach you how.

Take a deep breath and relax. Life is about to get a whole lot easier and way more fun.

I’m here to help.

Much Love and Many Blessings for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year,
Crystal

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Energy Element Online Course – Click to pre-order at the Intro Price – $99

Once the course is up and running you’ll receive an email with Log-in instructions to the email address you specify in your order.

Start 2014 with ease and excitement – Book a set of Sessions with Crystal

Results, damnit!

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Love is all around if you're looking for it.

Love is all around if you’re looking for it.

Bless our human hearts. We all want results.

We want to see immediately the results of our actions. I’ve started a diet and want to see a lower number on the scale and a new rear-end in the mirror on the second day. Or we have gotten really out of balance and have a dis-ease or diagnosis that should be cleared up with one pill.

Well, again, bless our human hearts.

We are hard wired to want those results. We don’t necessarily want to do the work it would take to get those results, we just want the results. Although the “work” we truly need to do to get the results we want isn’t “work” at all.

Sometimes we like the exercise or workouts we do and some of us even like to eat healthy foods, but as a society we’ve given every ounce of our own personal power away to big pharma, doctors, politicians, banks and the media.

We aren’t really willing to go through a process of healing or transformation. We just want it right now. But your illness or dire situation didn’t happen over night, it may sometimes seem as though it did, but I assure you it didn’t. It started a while ago and built up little by little until it got so loud that you were diagnosed with cancer or your partner left you or you lost your job.

There were little warning signs all along the way that if you knew and were paying attention you could have listened to and made adjustments to create a totally different outcome. Learn how to navigate these signals and you’ll never be caught off guard again.

So, ok… I get it. You want results.  What is the one result you can always look for that will make everything better? And I do mean everything.

re·lief
noun: relief

~ a feeling of reassurance and relaxation following release from anxiety or distress.

Ahhhhh, sweet relief.

If the result you are looking for is relief, everything in your life changes. Relief isn’t complete and total resolution, relief is feeling just a little bit better than you were before.

If you stop looking for the whole enchilada right now and appreciate the relief from your busy mind or a slight bit of relief in your body if illness or some diagnosis is what you’re in search of then you’re on your way.

So many times when faced with an illness or terrible situation the only thing people want is immediate, complete healing or resolution and nothing else will do. When that’s your standard, you’re not leaving yourself much room for improvement. You’re also not giving yourself the opportunity to discover what put you on that path to begin with. But, if you let just feeling a little bit better be enough it begins to compound.

Beginning to recognize where this illness or situation came from is quite helpful. Noticing where you’ve been directing your thoughts and focus can give you great information on how you’ve gotten yourself into any situation.

I know some people might not want to hear they had anything to do with their illness or dire situation, but taking responsibility for your own life, health and happiness is the only way to control it. Otherwise, you’re at the mercy of the outside world and that just sucks.

So, how do I get relief when things are so terrible in my life right now?

Well, begin with breathing. Stop what you’re doing and take a few deep breaths. In through your nose, filling your belly first and then your chest, then breathe out, pulling in your stomach to empty out your lungs completely before the next deep cleansing breath.

While you’re breathing begin to soothe yourself in your mind. Say calming and comforting things to yourself, even if at first you don’t believe them to be true. “I’m OK. I’m OK. It’s all OK. This is all going to be alright. Everything is working out for me. Even if I can’t see it, I know that things are working out for me.”

Get outside in nature. Take a walk with your pet or borrow someones pet (ask them first! haha) to take for regular walks. Play music that makes you feel good and dance around. Light some candles and put on comfy clothes. What makes you feel good?

By taking the time to make yourself feel better physically you’re giving your mind a chance to follow. You know how hard it is to be positive when you feel bad physically. If your problem IS feeling bad physically you must begin to take notice of feeling just a tiny bit better. Baby steps make all the difference.

Once you begin to get the hang of it, you’re golden. With enough practice, you’ll begin to believe what you’re saying and feel it to be true. You’ll also begin to hear the crazy shit your mind is telling you as crazy shit and won’t be so frightened by it.

You’ll notice how when you calm and soothe yourself, you don’t stay upset for so long, you have better ideas, your illness begins to respond to the treatment, you have more fun with your children, partner or spouse and life in general just gets better and better.

This is all so very simple, but not always easy. If you need support on your journey, I am here to assist and guide you.

You can do it. You know what your heart needs to hear. Say those things and begin cultivating a relationship with yourself based on soothing and support. Life really is good and fun and all you need to do to experience more of that is look for and give yourself relief.

Here’s to you finding it.

My love to you,

Crystal

Blessings & Beliefs

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Many blessings for compassionate cooperation

Many blessings for compassionate cooperation

People are mad these days. Mad as hell and don’t want to take it any more. I say, good. Be mad. But then let it go.

Allow yourself to move through that energy and notice how you can shift the circumstances around you by not engaging. And even better than not engaging, how about blessing the person or situation you’re mad at?

I’ve had sessions this past week or so with folks angry, irritated or disgusted by either an individual or group of people. I can totally relate. We’ve all felt those less than warm and fuzzy feelings before and it’s absolutely OK.

Every feeling you have ever felt in your entire life is valid.

Those feelings were your natural reaction to the situation, given everything you’ve lived up to that point. So take a deep breathe and relax. It is OK and you are right to feel how you feel. But that doesn’t mean it can’t change.

We live in a society that wants to make us feel bad for how we feel.

“You shouldn’t feel that way!” “That’s not Christian of you to feel that way.” “That’s not the way I feel, you’re wrong.”

Any of these sound or feel familiar? Of course they do.

If we can’t understand and get frustrated when someone doesn’t like tomatoes or hates walnuts in their brownies, what do you think the reaction will be around subjects with deeper meaning like religion or politics?

We all believe what we believe. Beliefs are merely thoughts we think over and over again. We all think our beliefs are true, but they aren’t. Not necessarily. Unfortunately, some of our beliefs don’t serve us or anyone at all. Some of our beliefs are completely untrue.

We’re not taught to believe things by our parents or teachers by them saying… “Ok, kids! Pay attention. Today, I will teach you to believe ________.”

That didn’t happen.

What did happen was as children we were little sponges.

Our parents raised us and our preachers and teachers taught us like we were only listening to their words. Ha! Bless all of our hearts. I’m sure you can relate from your own experience the truth in this. We’ve all heard, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Guess what folks, it doesn’t work that way.

What we(ALL of us) as children did was pick up on the vibration, the attitude and the underlying meaning of why “they” did what they did. And filtering that through our own short life experiences, beliefs began to form in our little child minds.

Beliefs like…. “Women are supposed to take care of the house and children. Men don’t do dishes or housework. Girls have to be skinny, pretty and nice to get a husband. Boys have to work hard and make lots of money to get a girl. Women are supposed to make everything better. Daddies don’t stick around. I wasn’t good enough for them to love me. I have to be perfect all the time and never make mistakes. Men don’t respect women and think they are hysterical. Women have to take care of and protect themselves because men are neanderthals.”

Children grow up and learn how to treat people and how to allow people to treat them by watching their parents. Is their father kind, loving and respectful to their mother? Does their mother have her own power or does she always defer to father but then blow up and be angry with the children? Girls and boys learn much about the rules of society in their own homes. Whether kindness and compassion or impatience and abuse, they are affected by the circumstances around them.

What if they(we as children) saw and heard parents blessing their enemies?

What if children saw more kindness, gentleness and compassion in their homes? Not only the compassion that parents had for friends and loved ones, but also patience and compassion for people they disagreed with or didn’t appreciate. What change might that bring about?

How can you begin to bless the people that irritate or frustrate you most? Without making huge sweeping moves, what small ways can you begin to bless everyone around you.

What do you think would happen if everyone took a moment to say. “I really can’t stand this person, but wow, they must be suffering to act like that. Or what must they have been through to be like that? Bless their heart.” And then say, bless my heart for having to deal with them. Let yourself feel and move the energy around the situation while giving yourself and the opposing party a break.

Who can you send blessings to today that you have profound judgements about?

What you do for others, you do for yourself. When you judge, curse and demean others you’re doing it to yourself. When you bless them, you bless yourself.

Give it a shot. When you take time for prayer or meditation today, whatever that looks like for you, send blessings to those you don’t care for or understand.

You will be surprised at the level of peace you can achieve when you stop raging against what you don’t like and start cultivating more compassion for what you don’t understand.

I would never do what I see many people around me doing every day, but I’m not mad at them about it. My heart sees the suffering in their heart and I have deep compassion for them. Does it always come easily, no. Many times I have to feel through my own anger and judgement about the situation, but I always understand it is that, my OWN anger, fear or judgement.

Even people in positions of authority(doctors, teachers, pastors, politicians, lawyers) have issues. You have issues, your parents had issues, their parents had issues. Get over it. Stop judging others by their issues and recognize you have your own. Take a deep breath and give everyone a break(yourself included.) When you accept your feelings as your own and stop blaming others, life gets really good.

It’s not always easy, but it’s very simple.

Bless your heart, bless their heart, bless all of our hearts. Everything really is OK. We’re all going to get through this and life will be even better because of it.

Seeing and holding the vision of compassion and cooperation in all areas of our lives.

Sending much love and many blessings to all of you.

I’m here if you need some help.
Crystal