3 Reasons You Should Take More Vacation Time
I decided last year that I was committing myself to more vacation days. And can I tell you how HARD that was for me? Way more than you would probably...
Grand Mayan Pools at Riviera Maya, Mexico - Empowerment Retreats
I decided last year that I was committing myself to more vacation days. And can I tell you how HARD that was for me? Way more than you would probably guess as I am not one who likes to be in debt.
Owning a business where I provide services has always meant, when I don’t work, I don’t get paid. So vacations were always something to really think twice about. Interestingly, according to two separate surveys by Forbes and a national market research firm, even most Americans who are given paid vacation by their companies don’t take all of it. Here are 3 reasons, I decided to commit to it and why I think you should as well.
Reason #1 for Taking More Vacation Days: Self-care. You hear this buzz word quite a bit lately. It’s funny that many people have a hard time taking 30 minutes out of their day for exercise because there’s always some house chore to do that seems to take priority instead. Or, if you are like me and you own a business, there’s always something you could be doing to manage or grow your business. However, when you are on vacation, the laundry, the dishes, and your business are far away. No excuses to relax, get moving, and have fun!
Reason #2 for Taking More Vacation Days: Make Happy Memories with Your Kids. I vowed a couple years ago after my best friend died that I would spend less money on gifts and more time taking vacations with my family. I don’t think my two teenagers could tell you what they received for Christmas in 2014, maybe not even what they received this past Christmas of 2015! However, they do remember very vivid details about our trip to Bryson City, North Carolina, three summers ago, where we rented a cabin by a stream and went tubing and white water rafting. I hope my kids will have an arsenal of happy vacations in their minds and hearts by the time they go to college.
Reason #3 for Taking More Vacation Days: Defying Fears Around Money. I stopped working nights and weekends several years ago when I realized that the only reason I did was because I was in fear around money. I needed to stop telling myself a “lack” story and believe that the money would come without sacrificing my health and my values for family. Now, nights and weekends are for family. Period.
Then, in the past year, in addition to family vacations, I have donated four weeks of my time to my favorite charity, Send Me On Vacation. I travel out of the country to perform emotional healing and recovery workshops for breast cancer survivors. By refusing to worry about what missing a month from work would do to my business bottom line, I have gained so much more… including experience in performing workshops abroad, on cruise ships, and the extremely nourishing and WONDERFUL opportunity to make new friends during each week that I have spent on those trips!
Interestingly for me, whenever I come back from a vacation, I have a so much more energy for my business that it seems to act as a catalyst to bring in more income!
I would love to hear your thoughts about this article. Thanks in advance for sharing and I hope your summer is filled with laughter, sunlight, time well spent on vacation making many good memories.
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Empowering Yourself on a Lonely Valentine’s Day
I have been thinking about each of you. It’s February, which is typically associated with love and the heart. And yet, I know for many of you Valentine’s Day can be a painful reminder of the love you don’t feel or have in your life...
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
I have been thinking about each of you. It’s February, which is typically associated with love and the heart. And yet, I know for many of you Valentine’s Day can be a painful reminder of the love you don’t feel or have in your life.
Many people struggle to move past the pain of divorce, break-up, and infidelity. They feel stuck because logically they know they want to let go and move on but something deeper holds them back.
This is problem because the toxic emotions and ruminating on the past can drastically drain your mental and emotional energy.
Another reason this is a problem is because it can sabotage your confidence creating a lack of self-trust and self-worth when it comes to new relationships.
The good news is that once you have an effective strategy showing you how to clear you subconscious blocks, you can reclaim you confidence and self-worth and unleash a chain reaction of abundance in your life, abundance in the area of love, financial freedom and even living your BIG mission!
On a wish and a dare, my life changed one day when I decided to try hypnosis to help me with depression. The healing that occurred was so rapid and so powerful for me that I quit a high paying engineering job to become a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and help other heal their hidden barriers to overcoming problem emotions.
Along the way, I realized that I had created a formula for moving past the pain of divorce and breakup that broke all the rules of traditional options.
Now, after 20 years of working with thousands of clients behind closed doors, I’ve begun to share my proven, time tested, rapid breakthrough strategies for helping men and women heal to the world! With the new technology on the internet allowing for everyone to use MP3 downloads and Skype along with the convenience of mobile devices, I have actually been working with clients all over the U.S. and in other countries!
I call this program Heal Your Heart.
This program will help you rapidly and powerfully:
- Release the mental habit of ruminating on the past.
- Reclaim your worth in life and in love.
- Stop obsessing on your ex.
- Take back your power and reclaim your energy.
- Release the subconscious barriers keeping you from moving forward.
- Stop the cycle of addictive thinking and ruminating on the past.
- Release the toxic emotions and become emotionally empowered.
- Rebuild your confidence and self-trust
- Love yourself and know you are a prize!
I love showing my clients how to heal their heart and move on because something unexpected happens. Suddenly, you find hope and energy and you are doing amazing things! Is it your turn? Contact me and let's find out!
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Empowered to Move On: How Hypnosis Can Help You Forget Your "Ex"
I hear that request more often than you might expect. The demise of a relationship, even one we know should or must end, can cause severe psychological and emotional stress...
“Can you hypnotize me to forget about someone?” I hear that request more often than you might expect. The demise of a relationship, even one we know should or must end, can cause severe psychological and emotional stress. In ancient cultures, there is a core belief that when we suffer an emotional or physical trauma, a part our essence or soul flees the body in order to survive the experience. A shaman or healer would be called in to perform a ritual called “Soul Retrieval” which was considered crucial to the person’s healing process. As a Hypnotherapist, I understand the value of this philosophy and have had the honor to guide many clients through a modern day version of Soul Retrieval using hypnosis to help them heal emotionally, and move forward.
Here are some real life stories about how Hypnosis has helped my clients to heal after a break-up or divorce. (The names have been changed for privacy.)
Stories of Betrayal Haunted Him: Jim had been divorced for two years. His wife had been the love of his life. She cheated on him with a best friend and the two went through a very bitter, ugly divorce. The whole experience left him “gun-shy” to date again for fear of getting hurt. In a very powerful hypnosis session, Jim was able to release the negative emotions from that experience and gain a much needed sense of closure helping him to feel free to move on.
The Ex-Boyfriend Who Haunted Her Dreams: Carrie had been married for over ten years when she came to get help with recurring dreams about an ex-boyfriend. It had been years since the breakup of her college sweetheart and first love of her life. Despite time passing and marrying another man, she kept dreaming that she was back at school, desperately trying to find her first love. She would frequently wake up frustrated and sad. Hypnosis helped her to understand the purpose of her recurring dream, gain some deep inner wisdom and the dreams stopped.
Obsession with the Other Man: Anne was married to a great guy. She described him as the perfect, loving, husband and father to their three children. Despite ideal circumstances, she found herself falling in love with another man she had met through work. Even though she knew it was wrong, she entered into a one night stand with the co-worker followed by a deep and intense emotional affair which they conducted via emails and texting. Anne knew that this love addiction would destroy her marriage if didn’t stop. She sought help from a skilled therapist and simultaneously used hypnosis to uncover and clear the unconscious reasons that compelled her obsession.
She Couldn’t Say Goodbye to a Soul Mate: Susan found herself stuck in a long-term relationship that she knew was unhealthy for her. Her boyfriend treated her disrespectfully, often criticizing her in public and flirting with other women in her presence. On several occasions, she had even caught him cheating with other women. Each time that she would end the relationship, deep feelings of abandonment and grief overwhelmed her and she would end up take her cheating boyfriend back. In a past life hypnosis session, Sue remembered two previous lives with this man. In both, they had been husband and wife and circumstances had caused his untimely death which left her feeling devastated and alone. After hypnosis, Susan felt empowered to end her relationship with this man in this life.
These cases are just a few examples of the after effects caused by the psychological and emotional stress from a painful break-up or divorce. Here are some common symptoms that can be related to unresolved pain or grief:
Feeling Emotionally Detached or Numb
Habitual Replaying of Past Conversations or Memories
Debilitating Fear of Getting Hurt Again
Obsession with the Lost Lover
Grief that Has Not Healed
Anger that Doesn’t Dissipate or Transfers to Other People in Your Life
Problems with Forgiveness
Victim Mentality
Insomnia or Stressful Dreams Related to the Break-Up
Headaches and Other Physical Problems
Post Traumatic Stress
Manifestation or Worsening of Addictions to Numb Emotional Loss and Pain
Immune System Deficiencies Caused by PTSD
Hopelessness or Depression
Feel Like a Part of You is Dead or Gone
If you are experiencing any of these problems, seek advice from a medical doctor or licensed mental health professional before using a complimentary health modality like hypnosis.
Carolyn Myss, the best-selling author of several books on the subject of the mind-body connection to health and healing believes “the emotional energy we divert focusing on painful memories, or in our efforts to suppress them, is the single most common cause of illness and disease.”
The truth is hypnosis can’t make you forget the one who caused you heartache. However, you can use hypnosis and other similar modalities that have the ability to go deeper than logic and act as powerful catalysts to help you heal emotionally and release the addictive thoughts that often plague us after break-up and divorce.
If you resonate with the stories in this article and are interested in getting my help with your own personal healing journey, apply for a free discovery session with me.
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Women Empowering Women with Cancer
What do breast cancer survivors need in their post-op journey? You might be surprised
I want to thank you for allowing me to be your partner in your personal development. You inspire me each and every day, and I'm so grateful to be able to do what I love helping you reach your goals.
I am also so grateful to be coming from Mexico last week where I held another one of my emotional healing workshops that I created called, "The Mermaid's Journey. " This particular one was created specifically for breast cancer survivors!
I call this work of getting healthy with emotions for all women, a "Mermaid's Journey." The ocean is a universal symbol of emotions, the sea of emotions. When you become a mermaid, you become stronger through embracing your emotions and learning to dive through them fearlessly, the good and the stormy ones!
The entire event is funded by the non-profit, SendMeonVacation.org. Their mission is to send breast cancer survivors who have been financially devastated by the cost of treatment on an emotional healing and empowerment vacation. Each survivor receives a photo makeover as a mermaid and an emotional healing workshop experience with me.
Tammy, a survivor from Boston got her Mermaid Makeover and she looks so happy!
All totaled this past year, I've donated four weeks of my time, traveling around the globe for my favorite cause. I've been to Bermuda, Boston, Texas, and several areas of Mexico this year all in the name of women's healing and empowerment!
It is very interesting to see how women from different cultures and different parts of the United States move through the diagnosis, treatment, and emotional aftermath of cancer.
Bostonian women are strong with a no non-nonsense survivor attitude that says, "Cancer won't defeat me. I will get through this!"
Bermudian women are also very strong but attribute their Christian beliefs with their strength, with a survivor attitude that says, "God has a reason and I have faith in God to help me through this."
West coast women from California seem to be more metaphysical believing there is a soul lesson in their journey with cancer.
I read years ago that a man recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer sought insight into the "secrets" of cancer survivors. Were they all doing a certain diet or treatment? No. They had done different diets, regimens, and treatments. However, he discovered one common thread: their mental attitude about cancer was the same. Each had a belief that cancer was to be perceived on the same level as the flu, something to suffer through and get past with a finite end to it.
Below is a photo from the Bermuda survivor cruise where I also performed two half day emotional healing workshops for Bermudian survivors. This is Zazi. Isn't she beautiful and so happy to have her transformation!
Bermuda cancer survivor and fellow mermaid Zazi.
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Emotional Healing for Breast Cancer Survivors
An amazing story about what happens when two like minded women happen to come together in a very unlikely way.
Riviera Maya, Mexico - A Mermaid spotting...
We all experience stress. Be it emotional or physical, stress is something we all try to avoid and find unpleasant; however, it is inevitable and part of life.
Cancer is one of the most stressful events a person may ever endure. The day cancer treatment ends, a new chapter begins and with it a new set of challenges including fear, anxiety, anger, guilt, grief, and a variety of situational stresses related to job, relationships and income.
Supporting emotional health is a critical first step in the recovery from the devastating effects cancer leaves behind. This means, in simple terms, helping a cancer patient to clear the stressful emotions that occur during diagnosis, treatment and aftercare. Emotional health is now a frequent topic in any part of any program that is labeled as Integrative Healing or Integrative Oncology.
When I opened my practice in Clinical Hypnotherapy in 1995, one of the first areas of application that was especially meaningful to me was using hypnosis and imagery to help cancer patients. Since then, I've been able to take the show on the road, as they say!
In autumn of 2014... I received a call from a woman in Las Vegas who asked to speak with me about an emotional healing program I had created called "The Mermaid's Journey."
Her name was Cathy Backus. She is the founder of a non-profit called Send Me On Vacation. Cathy worked in the time-share and vacation industry and had developed the concept of using donated time-share weeks and airline travel resources to assist recent breast cancer survivors to convalesce in beautiful vacation spots while they embrace their “new” normal.
Once the non-profit was underway, Cathy wanted take these restorative vacations once step further and help survivors embrace their “after cancer” beauty in a loving and powerful environment. She incorporated beauty makeovers and mermaid photography for each recipient so they could reconnect with a sense of feeling beautiful and feminine.
It was amazing to hear the stories about how this experience helped each of them to once again embrace their beauty (inside and out) and their feminine nature!
"Now," Cathy said, "I want to take these vacations to a whole new level. I want them to feel more than rested. I want them to feel more than beautiful again. I want to help breast cancer survivors to go back to the world and feel more empowered mind, body, and spirit. "That's where your work comes in. I want you to do your emotional healing workshops for our breast cancer survivors," she said.
Within 24 hours, it was all arranged. A few months later, I flew to Mexico and we held the first Mermaid's Journey experience for cancer survivors in breathtaking Riviera Maya, Mexico! I even got my photo taken as a mermaid. That's me on the dock:)
Another really wonderful aspect of this non-profit is that all the money raised in any given town or metropolitan area goes to send women from that area on an empowerment vacation. This is truly unique. Many of the larger non-profits hold local fundraisers but that money never comes back to assist those in need in the area where the money is raised.
Check out my events calendar for the next Mermaid's Journey Empowerment Vacation for breast cancer survivors.
If you or someone you know is interested in attending, enter your information below.
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Gratitude: The Subtle Power Within.
Learn the secret behind daily gratitude.
This year, I bought something called “Pak-Its” that go inside the lunch sacks for my two children. Each “Pak-It” contains four compartments; one for a sandwich, and three others for snacks, fruit, chips, etc. Each day, I try to surprise my kids with a variety of fruit and snacks. I love to see their smiling faces and hear them express so much gratitude from something as mundane and simple as what’s in a lunchbox!
Why is it as we get older, many of us have a hard time appreciating the simple things in life? Perhaps, it’s because life becomes more complicated. Or is it something else?
Years ago, I remember I was really struggling with appreciating my life. At the time, I was living in a constant state of fear and anxiety around money. My husband had been out of work for almost a year. If he didn’t find a job soon, we were going to lose our home. Typical to someone who is in financial straits, I found myself ruminating constantly on thoughts like…”Where will we move if we lose the house? Could we bring our dog to an apartment? Could we find an apartment in the same school district? What furniture would we keep?”
The subconscious mind will obsess on unwanted outcomes. The perception is that if we worry, we can somehow avoid the negative consequences we fear. Or in the very least be prepared for the worst.
Seeking a positive focus, I joined a women’s empowerment group that met weekly. I will never forget the first meeting with these funny, spiritual women. Starved for inspiration and light, their energy instantly uplifted me. The hostess introduced me and then led the group in a standard opening activity which was called, “Gratitudes.” This meant that each woman in the group was asked to share at least one thing for which she was grateful that took place in the previous week. In this way, each woman got to share a piece of her life as we simultaneously engaged in co-creating positive energy.
If you’ve ever been through a time in your life when you feel like you are in survival mode and everything is a struggle, you might relate when I say, that for the longest time, I had a hard time thinking of a “gratitude.” My mind was locked into a non-stop chatter of anxious driven dialogue like, “My husband is out work. We are struggling financially. We may lose our home. The kids are arguing. I’m exhausted. What will we do?” And on and on….
Over the course of several weeks, something inside must have shifted though. A new habit of looking for the good must have been fostering a new perspective because something out of the ordinary happened the night before Thanksgiving. I indulged a few dollars and went out with friends to a local restaurant to hear live music. The band was energetic and fun! The loud music was a welcome infusion of positive energy!
Later on that evening, I walked down the hall to the back of the building towards the restrooms. Out of the abrupt silence. I heard a single sentence inside my head, “What you fear most will set you free.” I stopped in my tracks. What did that mean? It was my voice….but the way that the sentence was phrased was not how I would normally speak. It reminded me of something Obi-wan Kenobe would say to a student to whom he teaches the ways of the Jedi.
I laughed and asked myself, “What was my worst fear at that moment?” Losing our home? Yes. Well, what if we lost our home? What’s the worst that would happen? So, we move into an apartment. So what! A rush of energy and relief flowed through me. Me, my husband, my children… we are all healthy! Suddenly, I felt light and a feeling of immense gratitude for our safety and health flowed through me. I felt a deep inner calm that I hadn’t felt in a long time.
That was a turning point in my soul. The point when I was able to see the glass half full in life despite life’s struggles.
I continued to participate in the women’s group weekly for many years. Over time, my “gratitudes” became more plentiful. The simple things in life like a comfortable bed and bird singing outside my window bring me joy. This continues to occur despite times when life has been extremely stressful for me. Like when a huge family inheritance was lost. And especially, when my best friend and godmother to my two children died of brain cancer.
Gratitude is a lifeboat that keeps your spirit afloat even in difficult times.
You can’t inflate your “lifeboat” all at once though. You must breathe life into it daily to keep it inflated and uplifting you. It’s okay to start small. Maybe it’s just gratitude for a soft pillow and indoor plumbing.
A friend of mine named Ben is a retired CFO of a major corporation. In his retirement, he has turned to studying Peruvian shamanism and now practices as a healer. Spending time with him is such a delight. He constantly whispers phrases of gratitude under his breath. I hear him say, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!” when he begins a healing. I hear him say it when things go well and when things don’t. He is one of the happiest people I know.
From my own life and those I’ve watched, I believe that what you focus on is what you attract. And if you concentrate on looking for experiences and people to appreciate, the more you will live in a state of appreciation and bliss. And when life challenges you, look for the little things to appreciate like lunchboxes to inflate your lifeboat.
May your blessings be plentiful this holiday season!
Namaste.
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Overcoming a Phobia: The Story of Radio Personality Brooke Ryan & Her Fear of Fish
A podcast series where radio show host Brooke Ryan shares her session by session experience of working with Rebecca to overcome her lifetime phobia of fish.
Summary: Brooke Ryan is a local radio show host of Charleston's Mix96 Radio show in the morning called "Two Girls and a Guy." This podcast series shares Brooke’s week by week experience over the radio working with Rebecca to overcome her lifetime phobia of fish.
How I Discovered the Power of Hypnosis
How hypnotherapy radically cleared my depression and redirected my life,
I moved to southern California at the age of 25. I distinctly remember the gratitude I felt. What wasn’t there to love about my life? I lived a half block from the sand in Newport Beach, drove a cute, and fully paid for Volkswagon Cabriolet convertible, had made many friends, and was earning a good salary working as an environmental engineer.
Despite this idyllic life, I experienced regular bouts of debilitating anxiety and depression that would roll over me like the morning fog coming off the Pacific Ocean. I would try to talk myself out of the feelings by reminding myself of how wonderful my life was. It didn’t work and I felt stuck.
Newport Beach, California
It’s funny how you know something is really wrong inside when your life is so good that you can’t blame your unhappiness on anything or anyone around you.
My best friend suggested counseling. I resisted. Not because I didn’t believe in the effectiveness of therapy but because I had been through so much of it already. I knew that my anxious worries and fears were irrational. Due to my father’s alcoholism, I had participated in all kinds of therapeutic counseling including Ala-Teen, family intervention therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and psychotherapy from age 16 to age 24. Looking back, the therapy helped immensely. It helped me to detach from the dysfunction, stop feeling like a victim, and most of all, gain the powerful understanding that my thoughts create my emotions. So why was I still feeling so stuck?
I asked myself, “What could they tell me that I haven’t already heard? That I don’t already know?” I know my anxiety is irrational. I know how I am supposed to be thinking and feeling to be happy but it’s not happening!
I had heard about hypnotherapy and that it could effect deeper levels of change than what we can reach consciously. Frankly, I always have had the attitude, “I’ll try anything once. ” So, I looked in the yellow pages of my local phone book (back before google and the internet) and found a list of Clinical hypnotherapists in my area. I remember picking a woman named Laurie Miller because she looked friendly and “normal.”
I will never forget my first session. I walked in there desperate for relief from my destructive and debilitating thoughts. I didn’t know what to expect. Immediately, she made me feel safe and comfortable. I told her that I felt irrational anxiety and often felt depressed despite how happy I was with my job and friends and where I lived. hen, she began the process of hypnosis with me.
She guided me to the first source of the anxiety and sadness and I found myself remembering a scene from age ten where I had gotten hurt falling off my bicycle and my pain and emotional needs were ridiculed which left me feeling anxious and sad. That night I felt tired and I slept hard. Then, I will never forget. Two days later, I felt physically and emotionally lighter! Like I had lost 15 pounds! I had no clue on the conscious level that so much emotion was still being held in my subconscious around that story.
The hypnosis session was so powerful and healing for me that I went back several more times to continue the process. “Let’s keep purging!” I exclaimed to the hypnotherapist.
Looking back, that first session was like opening a door to a deeper part of myself that I hadn’t been able to access with prior healing modalities.
Over the course of the next few weeks and several more sessions, I was able to clear my emotional baggage and begin to master my thoughts and emotions. I was able to finally break the patterns of anxiety and depression that had been destroying my peace and happiness.
The process so profoundly transformed me that I quit engineering to help others the way that I was once helped years ago. It is my mission to help those who know they want to behave or feel differently and want to make it happen on the deeper level where it is felt and known mind, body, and soul.
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