Tag Archives: selfcare

Can You Believe It?

Here I am, raw and unfiltered: I need to tell you something.

I am filled with so much love and joy right now that it’s exploding out of me. I can’t help but look at how far I have come, and how much work and sacrifice I put into building a life that makes my souls sing.

I have so much passion for sharing this joy that often I become overwhelmed with finding the words to share. I am a holistic therapist, it is my job to make the intangible truths not just understandable but practical. I am here to lovingly push people forward into their most empowered selves.

Yet, I know that many of my personal practices seem trivial when there are people struggling to buy food, facing addictions and mental health concerns every day.

Who am I to say anything about abundance when I sit in a seat of privilege.

Sure I have seen my dose of struggle. I’ve been abused, controlled, pushed down literally and figuratively, I’ve been in jail and on psych meds. These experiences don’t define me, but they do empower me.

I refuse to be a victim to anything or anyone. I am my own master, and so I choose the path of least resistance. Don’t misunderstand, there is much battle to be faught in the quest for person power. There is a cost, but with great sacrifice comes great reward.

What greater treasure is there in this life but the unveiling of our true soul. I firmly believe that you, YOU, are stronger than you think and braver than you believe! Stay strong, ask for help, and never give up!

I can’t help everyone, but I can stay strong and continue to grow every day, I can help those around me, I can set an example and I can make a difference.

One of the biggest lessons I learned in the past year is patience and consistency. Whatever it is in your life that you want to change, stay on the course. Results can sometimes take time; growth sometimes feels like failure. Remember that everything is a gift to help you learn and grow.

I know this because somehow even when I didn’t want to live anymore I kept going.

Repeat this mantra throughout the day: I believe in myself.

Four Element Clearing

When I feel the need to reset I like to remember the four main elements as a way to check in with myself and find my center. This technique can be used by anyone at any time. Especially powerful times are during bleeding or a life shift.

Take four days and focus each day on the elements: one at a time. This practice uses the traditional four as the elements, feel free to incorporate other elements if you wish. Day one the focus is on fire, day two air, day three water, ending on day four with a focus on earth. Another option is to do one of each at any time for a quick balancing.

On each day begin in prayer focusing on the element of the day. Let everything you do drip with love. Choose which practices from the days element you wish you use.

Fire

  • Cook over fire
  • Light candle
  • Burn sage
  • Smoke herbs
  • Burn written intentions

Air

  • Self Reiki
  • Rapé ceremony
  • Draw with charcoal
  • Pranayama
  • Dance

Water

  • Bathe
  • Meditate with shell
  • Make fresh juice
  • Pray at natural waters
  • Collect rainwater and anoint chakras

Earth

  • Meditate with crystals
  • Mud/clay/chocolate face mask
  • Hug a tree
  • Lay on the ground
  • Plant seeds
  • Cut hair

What you sow you will reap. The power of your intentions will be supported by this ritual, so be sure to have strong intentions, a flowing heart, and meditative mind as you move through your practice.

Comment below if you have any other suggestions for elemental clearing.

Healing Secret Pain

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to have it on Facebook?”

My mom teaches me and inspires my growth, often not in the direction she intends. I spoke with her on the phone a few days ago, she wanted to make sure that I supported the public testimony our arrest that James wrote on his blog and shared on Facebook. I assured her that not only did I support his writing but I helped edit the post. Letting out the details of our experience is one of the ways that James and I like to heal. Shining the light on the pain and trauma is likened to cleaning a wound, and sharing what happened in a public format is a powerful way to remove shame around what happened. I choose to set myself free from any victim mentality that was assigned to me when I was mistreated. I know who I am and I know that I am much greater than this experience, by letting go of the story I no longer define myself by it.

There are many secrets in my family, some that I just found out this year, some that I hold inside because it’s not my secret to share, and surely there are many secrets that I do not know about. I like to do things differently than generations past. I like to tell all my secrets and set them free. I believe that hiding my pain only causes me more pain, I would rather air out my wounds and disappoint a few people than kill myself slowly with the internal burden of secret pain. When I told my dad about abuse I experienced as a child he cautioned me to be careful who I tell, I assured him I would tell anyone I want. I refuse to hide in the shadows of my trauma.

Shame is such a controlling force if we let it sink too deep into our psyche. I have found immeasurable freedom in refusing to be ashamed of anything. I am proud of who I am, proud of how powerfully I have moved through very challenging situations with strength and grace (and sometimes as a hot mess and then back to grace). It is my goal to continually become more polished in my ability to process testing experiences and in the process I have inspired others with my courage, a result I did not set out to achieve but a massive perk in doing the self work.

Growth requires change. I am not a Twinkie that will remain the same for a hundred years, I am a living, breathing, actively changing and growing human person. This might seem trivially elementary to some but to others who tell me “you’ve changed” I say “yes, I am so glad that I have.”

What Happened to My Business?

When I was first coached on running my own business as a means to leave a job I hated I felt it was my chance to finally birth my lifelong dream of being a counselor. Although I lacked an advanced college degree or fancy credentials, my life experience and training in holistic therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy felt like enough to launch my business.

My baby business was Light as a Feather and as I grew Angel Ray Therapy was established which combined counseling, Reiki, and yoga. I was passionate about helping others become empowered and overcome major obstacles such as leaving a toxic job or relationship, overcoming addictions, healing from trauma and PTSD, and recovering from a religious past which I called Religion Rehab.

After a year of committing to this passion my person life went under some major shifts and movements. Since then I shut down Angel Ray Therapy as I took the time to deeply consider what it is I want to do.

I have learned quite a bit about myself since letting myself off the hook of running and promoting a business. First of all, the pressure of building clientele to sustain myself was heavy. I still counsel friends through life challenges and I still offer Reiki healings and even classes on occasion, but I don’t make it a goal to do these things: they come to me when the time is right. I felt that I should support myself financially through other means for a while and let my healing practice simmer on its own.

Second I learned a huge lesson in stepping back from trying to help people. Although I might want to offer advice and support, it isn’t always my place to be someone’s counsel. I believe that we all have everything we need inside of us, and attempting to help others sometimes left me feeling like there was an implied weakness in the other person. This is not a philosophy I want to support, so I changed my actions away from helping others and turned towards helping myself. We all need support sometimes but I felt the need to stop trying to help others and to let it happen on its own, by being myself.

Now that I have contemplated these lessons for a while I felt the desire to share with my friends and followers my journey. I still want to support others in any way I can. I am always available for phone or in person counseling sessions, yoga, and reiki (Check out my Angel Ray Therapy page to learn more). I would love to have a Religion Rehab support group, does this interest you? I share all this to say that I am here for my community and for my world. I may not be actively advertising what I offer, but I am always just a message away. 💛