The Hay House Summit

May 12th, 2016

Every year, Hay House, a major publishing company of self-help books, organizes a free, online summit. You can watch movies or listen to interviews on a variety of topics. Each interview lasts approximately 50 minutes and is packed with information.

I was inspired by Wayne Dyer's movie, The Shift. It was the first thing I watched. Dr Dyer teaches us how to move from a place of entitlement to an attitude of service. We each have something to offer and our life should be a joyful exploration of how we can use our skills to help others.

I listened to a fascinating interview with Alberto Villoldo who explains how our body is able to heal itself and even re-grow organs. We are programmed to grow and develop in the early years in order to reproduce then these functions shut down. However, Dr. Villoldo explains how we can turn these abilities on even during the early years in order to maintain our health and vitality. Amazing!

Next, I heard about Antony William's ability to see people's illnesses and recommend treatments. He is a medical medium. I was also impressed with Dr. David Hamilton's description of his research into the placebo effect. Apparently, he was busy creating medicine to help with people experience issues with their heart. He noticed that believing in a doctor or medication was enough to produce statistically significant results. He talked about the importance of gratitude, kindness and compassion to promote health and/or to help the heart heal post-surgery. There was a really powerful, healing visualization exercise at the end of his interview. I absolutely believe that what we visualize impacts our bodies.

In the second batch of interviews, I learned how to unlock my access to abundance by recognizing myths that I absorbed during my childhood in an interview with Julie Ann Cairns. Her words really struck a chord with me. In all our relationships, we experience frustration and observe patterns that get repeated. The patterns stem from childhood lessons and our frustration to the results we get from those patterns of behaviour is an indication that we are stuck and need to release some old beliefs. I am going to buy her book, Breaking the Abundance Code. She claims that if we work through the seven myths outlined in her book, our negative beliefs about money can be challenged, resulting in a better relationship with money.

Joseph Clough spoke about how to match the frequency of what we want in order to attract it into our lives. He encourages us to stay focused on our goals with our thoughts as well as our actions. We need to make the time to pursue these goals by cutting out activities that do not move us forward (like watching television). He warns against being rigid. We may be aiming too low so we need to remain open to even better possibilities that may present themselves to us. He suggests that we look for a lesson in every obstacle and never give up on our dreams.

Katie Dalebout wrote a book about journalling which is a passion of mine. She offers 55 directives in her book and described some of them during the interview. An interesting one was, If you knew this was going to be the best day of your life, how would you dress, what would you do and who would you see? I was familiar with the benefits of journalling therefore I didn't take as many notes during this interview. However, Katie shared how she came to write her book. She attended a Hay House Writer's Workshop. I have been contemplating this very same thing. They sometimes have them in New York. The next one is in Maui so too far for me at this time but, as soon as there is a workshop closer to Ottawa, I will sign up. Hearing about her experiences at the Writer's Workshop and the process she went through to become a published author was very motivating for me.

Lastly, Karen Henson Jones shared her transition from being a busy woman, working at a fast-paced job to having a near-death experience and needing to reconfigure her life. She travelled and shares what each trip taught her about life. She speaks about compassion and past lives. She believes our experiences and relationships are meant to help us grow, that we pre-selected them before coming into this life. We have a chart or life map and everything is part of the map. She takes us through three powerful healing visualizations at the end of her interview. I was so grateful for her talk.

I love the Hay House Summits. There are so many interesting presenters. You choose the topics of interest to you. You can take notes and, if you know someone else who is listening to these interviews, you can discuss them afterwards. I am so grateful to Hay House for providing this enriching experience for free. The fact that it's online means I can listen to the interviews while I am driving, cleaning the house, cooking supper or, after the children have gone to bed. I hope you all go to the hay house website (www.hayhouseworldsummit.com) and take advantage of this tremendous opportunity.

Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org

Book of the Week-The Power of Intention

January 7 th, 2016

It's late but I have thoroughly enjoyed my day. My eldest daughter turned ten years old today. I kept both daughters home from school and we enjoyed each other's company, celebrating Molly and preparing for her big party tomorrow night. She has seven friends sleeping over and it is all very exciting.

I chose to write about The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer because I vividly recall reading it during a trip to Mexico seven years ago. My daughters were young and I read every time they napped (twice a day) and, in the evening after they had settled in for the night. I have always loved books. As a child, I couldn't wait to go grocery shopping with my mom so I could sit in the cereal aisle and soak up all their books. I don't know why there was a book rack with cereal but it didn't matter. When I discovered self-help books, it opened up a whole new world to me. We see the world in a certain way, based on our upbringing and our experiences. Books show you life from a different point of view. It also helps you recognize and understand your own behavior which nourishes self-love as well as compassion for others.

When I read Dr. Dyer's book, I was in a bit of a fog. I was married with two young children and sleep-deprived. My maternity leave was coming to an end. My husband and I were struggling to re-create what we had together before becoming parents. We were both exhausted and finding our way. We felt frustrated, confused and overwhelmed. This was an important book for me because, at its core, the message was to be aware of your intention. I was feeling powerless to change anything in my life. I couldn't see every individual aspect of my existence just the sum of its parts. Focusing on my intention gave me a tool I could work with to align all of the pieces of my puzzle.

After much soul searching, I realized I had three main intentions:

1-Work on my relationship with Vincent in order to stay connected and loving as a couple and a family
2-Be a fun, loving, present mom for my girls
3-Use my skills to help others

This helped me tremendously. I didn't have to make any major decisions just stay true to my intentions. Knowing your intentions allows you to prioritize and move forward. On page 255 of the book this is described as thinking "from the end". It means you know what you intend the outcome to be. Rather than trying to figure out how to get there, you align what you say, think and do on a daily basis with your intention.

Here are some useful tips from the book to help you connect to your intentions:

1-"Become conscious of your thoughts", you will notice whether a thought is strengthening or weakening your energy. Is the thought aligned with your intention. If not, stop it in its tracks and replace with a more appropriate thought.

2-"Meditation", get quiet every day and become receptive to inspiration, stay focused on your intention.

3-Eat live food, feed your body with as much unprocessed food as possible. It's easier for you to thrive when your body is well nourished and your mind is uncluttered by toxins.

4-Pay attention to the quality of the people in your life, if you surround yourself with negative people, you will also eventually see the glass as half empty.

5-Notice the energy of your home. Is your house cluttered? Are there lots of objects to remind you of a divorce, illness, debt etc.? Clear your space of such objects and replace them with art, affirmations or just enjoy the uncluttered space.

6-Abandon your need to have more or be superior, this can compete with our intention and pull you off course.

7-Grab any opportunity that presents itself  if it moves you in the right direction, toward your intention.

8-Find people who know their purpose and are living with intention, learn from them.

9-Communicate your intention to others, they may have important information that will move you in the right direction.

10-Find something to be grateful for each day. Recognizing what you have helps you maintain your integrity because you do not perceive yourself as empty.

I hope this information is helpful for you. It changed the course of my life.

Anne
www.artnsoul.org

The Compass

January 1st, 2016

This is an exciting day for me. I have decided to start a new blog. My goal is to blog every day on a variety of topics: motherhood, mental health, physical health, "greening" trends, creativity, a book of the week and, interviews with 40+ year old women. Every week, there will be a post on each of these topics.

Why? I love to write, I do it every day. Also, I love to learn and share what I find out with others. This blog will allow me to accomplish both.

The Compass-I noticed, prior to turning 40, that many of the women around me who had just "celebrated" their 40th birthday were getting divorced, feeling depressed about their age or wanting to run away, to escape, to start over. I was puzzled and a little frightened about what lay ahead for me.

Since my 40th birthday, I have left my 12 year career as a full-time college professor to work from home. This allowed me to put my daughters on the school bus every morning and be present for them at the end of their school day. In theory, I would work from home while they were in school. Sounds ideal doesn't it? However, many clients work during the week so I had to add clients on Saturdays. I offer workshops and meet with individual art therapy clients on Saturdays. I published two children's books and participated in a variety of community projects, wrote meaningful articles for our local newspaper, all good stuff.

What I noticed though was a deep desire for my work to be lucrative. My husband was not exactly on board when I left my position at the college. He recognized that it was a toxic environment, that the commute was stressful and that it cost a lot of money when I worked: babysitting, gas, parking, coffee on campus etc. However, he was not ready to become the main provider for our family. Coming from a low income family, the threat of poverty was very real and scary for him. He runs a successful business and we could survive quite well on his salary alone but I felt that I needed to make money, asap, to reassure him that this was the right decision. I had no doubt that being more present for my children was the right thing to do and that moving away from the stress of my work environment would lead to a better quality of life.

What I didn't anticipate was the blow to my self-esteem when I earned less money. I love my work as an art therapist. When I watch group members grow, change, gain valuable insight and feel supported, I know I am on the right path. When I have a client walk into my studio in pain and leave feeling lighter with a bounce in their step, I feel so grateful for this work. When I bring my workshops to a hospice, the local youth center, the military family resource centre or in schools, I am so happy I could explode! While I am working, I feel fantastic but the gaps between clients create self-doubt. Should I just get a full-time job as a receptionist and do what I love on the weekend? If I get a 9-5 job, who will be here for our children? The need to compensate for the gap in income impacts every aspect of my life and self-concept.

What I am examining in my own life, I see in the lives of many 40+ women. We have lost our compass. At each stage of our life, we have a specific task. We are adding an element to our lives: a career, our own home, a partner, maybe a child or a pet, climbing the ladder at work etc. We are great at caring for our loved ones. Then we reach a point when every category competes for our time, energy and attention. We have a demanding job during the day, plans with our partner after work and a sick child at home. We do our best to be the best employee, mother, spouse, daughter, friend we can be. Our children grow and become more independent, our partner's business is thriving, our workplace changes as do the expectations on us and our parents age.

We wake up during our 40s and realize that we have neglected our own needs. We look in the mirror and notice how much weight we've gained. We read old journal entries and recall our aspirations. We examine our relationships and do some pruning. This is where all the changes happen for women in this age group. There is an awakening. It might make you sad, angry, satisfied, excited, either way, you are motivated to take action.

I have many interests that I wish to explore and share with you. That is what this blog is all about. This is an opportunity for me to expand my horizons, satisfy my curiosity and connect with others. Reading about and, reporting on various topics will restore the equilibrium in my life. If you would like to read my other blog or learn more about my services, please visit my website: www.artnsoul.org