Worthiness ... Time for Healing

We've talked previously about the awareness of our body, our physical body, emotional, energetic bodies, all that it entails. I talked a little bit about how Reiki can help on all levels on all three of those levels and even in ways that we don't realize. In addition to awareness, we also need to feel worthy. I think many of us struggle with the worthiness of healing. Do we deserve to have this healing? This may not be on a conscious level, but if we felt worthy, then would we put the time aside for it? So I feel like that's the first part of the worthiness right is using our time. How do we prioritize our time? What are we allocating time for and who or what is at the top of the list? If we really are in search of healing ... if we really are in search of something more and better for ourselves ... if we want to be free of pain ... if we want to move forward with goals ... if we want to heal from past issues that we've been hanging on to, then maybe worthiness is the place to visit. Are we worthy enough to receive healing for ourselves? Do we deserve to put this time aside for ourselves every day, every week, every month towards our healing?

Addressing our healing can take place in many forms. I just wanted to put that out there today and see your thoughts. Maybe it's time to check in with your worthiness, check in with what might be stopping you for prioritizing your healing, prioritizing time for yourself each day. It might be time to schedule a doctor's visit, schedule a massage, an counseling appointment or maybe an appointment with an energetic Reiki healing practitioner ... whatever it is that you feel like might be on your healing path right now. Are you putting that time aside for you and what you need? If not, maybe it is something to think about in terms of worthiness. Do I feel worthy enough for this or are others more important than my own healing than my own well being? This might be a tough question. I send this message out with all the love in the world, because it is something that I also need to constantly look at and address myself. I know that you nurturing, loving, giving people want everyone else to be well and we want them to feel loved.

There was a message that came through on one of my morning messages from spirit ... "Heal thyself, heal the world". I think a very important message to remember that if we do want to heal the world and help everyone starting from within, is first. Really starting to address our issues, give ourselves the love and compassion that we deserve, and provide ourselves with the time to do this work and to refuel, refocus, reset and heal.

How Reiki Supports Emotional & Mental Well-Being

We've been talking over the last month about how our emotions and our thoughts are energy, and how by bringing those to our conscious awareness we can take better control of what energetic frequency we're putting out into the world. Next trying to match that with what we want to see coming into our lives ... what kind of life we want to design for ourselves. Another way that we can help support ourselves, is through practices of self-care, like Reiki, an energy modality that I work with. We had talked a couple months ago now, about our physical well being and how Reiki is a great fit for supporting our physical body. If we're only doing that then we're missing several important pieces right, our emotional, mental and spiritual bodies.

The wonderful thing about Reiki is it's a modality that covers all of them, because it is a wholistic modality, meaning that it treats the whole being and gets to the root of issues. So that's the first way that it can support our emotional and mental well being is that Reiki gets to the root of the, of an issue. So we may present with something like we're not sleeping well ... we have pain ... or we're struggling with maintaining a healthy weight. Reiki will help get to the root of what the main issue is at the bottom of that symptom. It will help uncover what the beliefs are, where is it stemming from, and bring them up to the surface to be healed. Reiki can get at layers that you didn't know were there or that are not in your conscious awareness right now. I've had several experiences in my sessions where someone will even just sit up from the session and say, "I think I know why I've been struggling with this". This wonderful miraculous thing seems to happen, where now people can really start identifying things. These effects are cumulative as well. I have found in my years practicing Reiki on myself that the effects have been cumulative over the years, and healing takes place in layers. It's not a one and done but there are layers to us that we can keep uncovering. There are things that we pick up and the Reiki energy modality can help clear out those things that need to be released ... rebalancing our system, whenever needed.

Another way that Reiki can support our emotional and mental well being is giving ourselves the space and the time to process things ... to process through emotions ... to process through our thought patterns ... to process through experiences that we're going through. I think that we underestimate the value of slowing down and giving ourselves time. I love to be able to provide that space for people and hold that time for them. Also, it's so important to give yourself the time to prioritize yourself and your well being. There are so many things we can just ignore and push down, but that true wellness can only come if we can bring them up, work through them and release.

Another way that Reiki helps support our emotional and mental well being is that Reiki energy goes where it's most needed. The practitioner is not necessarily directing the energy. We can set intentions, or target certain areas if you're having some pain, but ultimately it goes where it's needed most. Reiki translates to spiritually guided life force energies. It will go where it needs it the most rather than just treating a specific symptom. This is why it's such a powerful practice where we can now again get to that root, and not just put a bandaid on things. That's where that long lasting healing comes in.

Lastly, another way that it can help our emotional and mental well being is that it balances and resets our system. It allows you to have more clarity and reset yourself back on the desired path. It will help give you that jumpstart you need, or will help give you that reset to get back on track.

If you have any further questions about Reiki I'd love to answer them for you. I'd love to be here to hold space and time for you. If you feel that it's the time for you to come in, you can always reach out.

Thoughts are Energy

We have been talking previously about energy in terms of the physical body and physical wellness. Now I'd like to shift a little bit to talking about how energy can help with our mental wellness and emotional wellness. So everything is made of energy ... our thoughts are energy and therefore have an energetic frequency attached to them. If we want to bring good things into our life (i.e. good experiences, good opportunities), we need to have those thoughts that are a match for that. We need high vibrational thoughts that are a match for those high vibration experiences that we want to bring into our lives. That's the first way that thoughts can be really powerful. When we're constantly thinking these negative thoughts (i.e. thoughts of self-doubt, worrying thoughts, thoughts projecting the negative possibilities), then that's the vibration we're operating at and therefore unconsciously bringing in those low vibration experiences that we don't want in our life. Unfortunately, creating this loop now where we're being validated that these bad things always happen to us. If we want to take control of our lives then that's where we need to start ... with our thoughts. Everything starts with a thought. Everything that's ever been created, starts with a thought. So, if we want to create the life that we want ... we want to create happiness ... we want to create good experiences. Then we need to start with those thoughts. The scary part is that data shows that the majority of our thoughts are negative, and they're on this unconscious loop in our mind. So, to take control and be back in control, we need to have, choose a conscious thought to replace with.

Secondly, our thoughts are powerful in that we can create a filter through which we see our life. This is also a scientific concept that there is a component to our brain that is called the reticular activating system. This is a bundle of nerves that are located at the base of our brainstem, and its job is to filter out all the unnecessary information so that we can zero in on what we're focusing on. If we are consciously choosing these high vibration positive thoughts, then our brain is going to help us filter out and focus on finding those good opportunities ... finding those high vibration experiences. If we want those good experiences, it's going to start with our thoughts. It's going to start with us taking control and consciously choosing positive thoughts. This is something that I need to remind myself of frequently because the unconscious habit is is so ingrained in us that it does take some reminding.

I'm hoping that this today can serve as a reminder to get back in those habits of you CHOOSING your thoughts. I think sometimes we can be influenced by those around us, (because their thoughts and their feelings have energy that they're sending out). So we need to be careful that we're not taking on those by those frequencies from others. the news that we watch the, the movies. I'd like to encourage you to be careful about what we surround ourselves with ... the people that we surround ourselves with, the type of media that we consume.

I'd like to encourage you for this week (and hopefully forever), is to choose a positive, conscious thought that you're going to have running through your mind this week and see what happens. I think you'd be surprised. One that I really love is, "Everything always works out for me." That phrase can apply to so many different situations, in so many different ways. The great part is that we don't have to have it all figured out. We have this support system, we have the universe conspiring with us, that is waiting to help us. So, let's just put that out there ... "Everything always works out for me." Another simple, but powerful statement is, "I deserve good things." I think so often, we have this underlying worthiness problem at the at the root of a lot of our issues. Let's get into that frame of mind ... "I deserve good things", because we all do. Remembering the power of our thoughts, the power of being in control and consciously choosing our positive thoughts. Give one of those three (or your own) a try! Your reticular activating system will be looking for all those opportunities ... all those times that things are working out for you, and you'll continue to prove that to yourself.

Here’s What My Haircut Reminded Me … Declutter Your Life

So I was finally able to go get a haircut.  It had been months and I was not feeling like myself.  When I came out of the salon I had this free feeling.  I felt lighter, like I had shed layers that were not “me”.  I felt like I was “ME” again.  I felt that I was more aligned with who I am and the style I feel drawn to.  

This got me thinking about decluttering in all areas of my life.  What if we applied this concept to all areas of our lives including our mental space, physical space and digital space.  Let go of old layers that no longer align with our true self.  

I recently began the mammoth task of decluttering my email inbox.  It had gotten out of control.  When I looked at the number of unread emails I knew I needed to take action (and get to the bottom of why there were so many I didn’t even open).  It was pretty eye opening when I realized that I had cluttered up my inbox and ultimately my mind with other people’s opinions.  I was looking outside of myself for the answers.  The flurry of unsubscribing and deleting that followed was extremely freeing and rewarding.  I cleared space for my own intuition to be heard.  I unsubscribed from anyone that didn’t FEEL in alignment with my true self.  It was an amazing way to evaluate where I want to be heading and to make space for me to look inward.  

I found a similar experience when decluttering my physical space.  When going through my physical things I asked myself who I wanted to be and what I wanted my life to look like.  This was an incredible perspective to approach this task with as it really helped with letting go of things that did not align with where I wanted to go.  During this decluttering we can evaluate the energy behind why we are keeping certain items.  Are we keeping items out of guilt?  Out of a lack mindset?  

All of these things together can help us clear the mental clutter that is taking up space and making it harder to hear our own intuition.  What else is cluttering up your mind?  What are those negative thought patterns that are continually running through your mind that no longer align with who you want to be or the goals you are reaching for?  These thoughts become beliefs that we hold as true and they limit us from growing and achieving.  When we can bring these beliefs to the level of awareness and process through these to release - we can be free … lighter … and more aligned with our true selves. 

Let go what everyone else wants and their opinions.  Let go of things we are holding onto out of guilt or obligation.  Let go of the previous phase of our life so we can step into the next.  Let go of the limiting beliefs that are holding you back.  

Let’s clear out … shed layers… realign with our true selves.

If you would like to start the process of identifying the limiting beliefs that are keeping you stuck check out my Free Resources section to get your worksheet.

Progress not perfection

I used to call myself the lazy perfectionist.  Perfectionism hindering us has come up a lot lately.  

The pressure we put on ourselves to be perfect and do everything 100% and perfectly is paralyzing.  Sometimes literally.  We instead end up doing nothing because of the unrealistic expectations we put on ourselves.  We create a monumental task in our minds out of everything. 

 We need to have the perfect pretty journal before we start our journaling practice (well… actually we need to somehow remember that we want to buy a journal … drive to the store … look through every journal at the store to find the one that is “perfect” … possibly find one or more likely get overwhelmed that you can’t find the right one or can’t justify spending x dollars on a journal & leave without one) --- PHEW!  I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

Meditation is another example.  I think there a lot of people (I used to be one of them) who thought that I had to do it “right” or it wasn’t worth it.  We think that we have to sit in the right position, on a specially designed meditation pillow, don’t dare think of laying down … we have to have x amount of minutes to dedicate to it regularly … and if you don’t do it everyday at the same time then just forget it.  Also, I used to get so hung up on breathing correctly and completely clearing my mind.  I felt I was always doing it “wrong”.  I was off on the breath count.  Those pesky thoughts kept coming back.  So I would get frustrated and give up.  

We spend so much time psyching ourselves out of doing something that we avoid potentially fun or helpful things.  Or we get ourselves so far behind that we are actually making our lives harder.  When we do try, we often fall into the trap of beating ourselves up about how we did it.  Somehow we didn’t do it “good enough” and we end up making ourselves feel worse than if we just didn’t do it at all.   

Sound familiar?  I think we can all think of several habits, tasks or practices that we go through a similar process in our mind.  

So here we go … let’s stop this paralyzing perfectionism and start getting some forward movement going.  Here are some of the ways I’ve been tackling this:

• Use Mel Robbins 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 strategy.  You have 5 seconds before your mind starts to talk you out of what you know you should do.  Start counting backwards from 5 and then get into action.  You will interrupt the sabotaging habit of your mind.

• Remember the phrase “Progress not perfection” … put a reminder in your phone, make signs, write it on sticky notes and hang all around.  

  • If it is a larger task just 10-15 minutes a day will do the trick sooner than you think.  Stay focused on one area or part of a task and chip away at it.  

  • Or if trying to establish a bigger habit try to at least do something every day.  Laura from the YouTube channel “How to Get Your Sh** Together” describes this concept as having no “zero days”.  She encourages us to not have any zero days, meaning any days where you don’t do anything for your project, goal or habit.  The idea being that it is so much harder to get back on track when you’ve done nothing.     

• Just get started.  Don’t wait for the perfect time, perfect way or perfect materials.  It really doesn’t matter … our mind is tricking us to believe it does.  

  • Just journal on any paper you have handy.

  • Just meditate sitting in a chair, laying in your bed, sitting in your car, sitting on your couch.  Just take 2 minutes to be still and quiet.  

  • Just throw the socks in the drawer unpaired.  

  • Just write a note to a loved one on a piece of lined paper (you know that in reality they will be ecstatic just to hear from you … not wondering why you didn’t send your note on coordinating stationary.)

Remember that we are constantly talking to ourselves so let’s focus on shifting that language to supportive and encouraging rather than critical and defeating.  

We’ve got this!  

-Amanda

Awareness is the Key

For me, awareness has been the key to progress and healing.  If we aren’t aware of something how can we change or heal it?  It seems to be one of those universal concepts that encompasses many areas of our lives.  Here are 5 ways awareness can make a big impact on our lives.

1. Body 

This one is a simple one … but not easy!  So many of us have become experts at ignoring our body signals - those basic survival instincts that we are born with.  We have taught ourselves to push through pain, exhaustion, hunger, thirst (among other bodily functions - insert clever emoji).  We have convinced ourselves that we don’t have needs or at least our needs are not as important as everyone else’s. It is amazing when you truly start to listen!

2. Mind: Limiting Beliefs

When we go through our lives feeling stuck … feeling like we aren’t living up to our potential or feeling like we aren’t reaching the dreams we have, I am guessing that there are some limiting beliefs under the surface that are holding you back.  The worst thing about limiting beliefs (those negative thoughts about ourselves that we hold as true) is that they are often hidden in our subconscious.  We go through the motions of our days and are often unaware that these negative beliefs about ourselves are lurking there.  When we actually take the time to bring them to our conscious awareness we may be surprised how many there are and how often we are repeating them to ourselves.  Awareness makes all the difference in taking back our power.

3. Emotions: Emotional Triggers

Another area of life that can benefit from a higher level of awareness is our emotional triggers.  I don’t know about you but this is a big one for me.  As we go through our days we can find ourselves in reaction mode. Usually leading to us acting in ways that we aren’t proud of leaving us with feelings of regret.  If we can raise our awareness of the types of behaviors, situations and/or events that trigger us we can start the process of working through them.  Without awareness, we are stuck in the unhealthy patterns of reaction.

4. Present moment - Mindfulness

Awareness of the present moment is the core concept of mindfulness (non-judgmental awareness more specifically).  How often do you find yourself going through the motions or rushing through the day?  There are so many moments, sights, experiences that we may be missing when moving so quickly.  When you actually stop and make it a habit to be consciously in the present moment … raise your awareness of the sensory experience surrounding you, of the people surrounding you and truly giving them your full attention; only then can you fully experience life. 

5. Spiritual

Awareness of the spiritual realm … signs left for us.  Are you in tune to the messages sent from your spiritual team or loved ones?  From words spoken to us from those around us, to little signs such as frequent sighting of coins, feathers, birds (esp. cardinals), butterflies, dragonflies (among others) … they are communicating with us to let us know they are here and we are supported. 

Awareness can give us our power back!  If you’re hoping to make changes and improve your overall wellness, it starts with awareness.  Best of luck!

Amanda 

If you would like to get started on identifying the limiting beliefs that may be holding you back click here to get your free worksheet!

https://amandakugler.com/take-action

Manifestation … You are a co-creator of your life!

Key concepts of manifestation:

• Believe that you have a part in creating your life!  

• Believe that you are worthy of abundance!

• Believe that anything is possible!

• Decide what you want to bring into your life and set the intention (say it, write it, imagine it, feel it)

• Incorporate gratitude into your life (if we are already grateful for what we have the universe will be more likely to bless us with more.  Manifestation is a delicate balance between being grateful for right where we are at this moment and setting intentions for the future … but not getting stuck in the “I’ll be happy when __” mindset.)

• Be a vibrational match for the good things you want to see in your life 

(Remember that thoughts and emotions have a vibrational frequency - put out what you want to attract!)

• Act as if … act as if it is already here … ask yourself, “How would someone who has these things/has this job/etc. act/carry themselves?”

• Look for signs and take inspired action   

• Let go of the outcome and trust!

(sometimes the universe has a bigger plan for us or the timing isn’t what we thought it would be)

3 Manifestation Practices you can incorporate into your life:

1. Get it in writing!

Things are definitely more solidified when written down.  Make sure to write in the present tense (as if it has already come into your life) and express gratitude.  “I am so grateful that I have this new job where I am feeling fulfilled and valued.”

• Journal

• Letter from your future self:  write a letter to your present self from the perspective of your future self.  Give yourself the encouragement you need and describe all the wonderful things to come.  

1. Visualize - Imagery is powerful!

• Day dream

• Meditation

1. Alternative Methods 

• Vision Board 

Create a visual representation of what you want to manifest.  Add images and words that represent

the actual thing as well as feeling words.  

• Two cup method

Fill a glass with water that you can drink.  Write your present situation (from a place of gratitude, no negative language) on a sticky note and place on the first glass.  Get a second sticky note and write in present tense language, from a place of gratitude, that which you would like to manifest.  Place this sticky note on a second empty glass.  Sit with this intention and feel the associated feelings as if it were here now.  Then slowly pour the water from the first glass into the second and finally, drink the water while thinking and feeling the intention.  

• Manifestation box 

Write down in present tense from a place of gratitude that which you’d like to 

manifest on a piece of paper.  Place this piece of paper in a special box and read 

the intention daily.  

Happy Creating!

Amanda 

Affirmations … What are you sending out to the universe?

“Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny.” ― Mahatma Gandhi.

As we go through our days we have a running loop of thoughts.  The question is, are these thoughts supporting you or bringing you down?  This is where affirmations come in.

What are affirmations?  Affirmations are positively phrased statements that are reviewed in your mind, stated out loud or written down to reinforce a new belief that you desire to hold about yourself or about the way the world works.  

Affirmations work in two ways.  

First, using affirmations is like a filter for your mindset.   When you affirm something such as, “Everything always works out well for me”, your mind will automatically start to look for evidence to prove this statement.  Unfortunately, it also works the opposite way.  For example, if you are saying to yourself, “This is not my day!”, your mind will have a filter on that looks for the bad parts of your day and you will easily overlook all the good parts of your day.  This also encourages us to interpret all events in a negative way.  There is a quote from Eckhart Tolle that states that it is not what happens to us that causes suffering but the story we tell ourselves about what happened to us.  

Secondly, affirmations work with the laws of energy.  It is scientifically known that thoughts are energy.  When we have a thought we are putting out a certain vibrational frequency depending on the type of thought.  Every thought has an influence on us and everything around us; therefore, we need to be very aware of what it is that we are sending out into the universe. 

We are able to choose one thought over another.  What are you going to choose?  Let’s choose to support ourselves.  Let’s choose to bring in good energy into our lives!

- Amanda 

Limiting Beliefs … What’s holding you back?

As we look at others and feel that spark of envy or we think about a long held dream that we’ve always had, we feel those thoughts creeping up.  The thoughts that sound like, “Good things never happen to me.” or “I’m not smart enough” or “I don’t have the right credentials” or “Things are always difficult for me”.  These are common examples of limiting beliefs that many of us hold.  Let us break down this term … Belief: a thought that we hold to be true … Limiting … something that holds us back, keeps us small … limits our experiences.  So, a limiting belief is a belief that we hold to be true (about ourselves or about how the world works) that holds us back from experiences or from achieving the things we’ve always wanted.  

Where do these beliefs come from?  They could originate from an experience in our childhood … maybe in first grade you made a picture and someone laughed at it, then from then on the limiting belief, “I can’t draw” began running in the background.  We also can acquire limiting beliefs from those around us.  We can hear our parents say things, our culture, our friends and take those beliefs on as truth.  For example, “Our family is not the type of people who do ___”, “We can’t afford to go ___”, “Money doesn’t grow on trees”, “Women can’t ____” 

These limiting beliefs can sometimes be common among many people or they can be completely unique to each person.  The thing they all have in common is they are negative, they are limiting, and they aren’t true.  Truth is only what you believe it to be.  It’s like the famous Henry Ford quote … “If you believe you can or believe you can’t … you are right”.    

These beliefs are tricky because often they are running on a loop in our unconscious mind.  The most powerful thing we can do for our healing and overall wellness is to start to identify these limiting beliefs.  If we can bring these beliefs into our conscious awareness now we have the power to address them and move forward.  Limiting beliefs may span across all areas of our lives.  You may have many in each area or maybe more in one area of your life.  I would recommend just selecting one or two areas of your life that you feel are most significant right now.  Once you learn the process of moving through limiting beliefs you can return at any point to address any others that are still lingering or any new ones that may arise.

So are you ready to move forward?  Are you ready for the life you’ve always wanted?  If so, check out my free worksheet to help you begin identifying these limiting beliefs here:

https://amandakugler.com/free-resources

Good luck!  

- Amanda

Guilty Pleasures

Pleasure … What does this word bring to mind?  What feelings come up?  Guilt?  Shame?  Are you immediately associating pleasure with something wrong … something selfish?  Or has it been so long that you are having a difficult time remembering what brings you pleasure?  This can be a difficult area for many adults … especially women.  We have even come up with a term that makes it clear how our society views pleasure … “Guilty pleasures”.  We are sent these messages that if we are seeking pleasure then we are “wrong”, “bad”, “selfish”, “frivolous” and if we do allow ourselves moments of pleasure then we definitely need to feel “guilt” or “shame” afterwards to make up for our momentary lapse in judgement.  When we are children we make most of our decisions based on pleasure (what will make us feel good).  Then over the years we are taught how to be responsible, how to sacrifice and how to do the “right” thing.  Slowly we lose sight of what we like, what we want, what feels good and our decisions are made based on what would be best for others, what is expected of us (by family, culture, etc.), or what is the responsible thing to do.  

I remember being so tightly wound that I had forgotten how to have fun.  I definitely identified pleasure with guilt and being frivolous.   I wasn’t allowing fun.  I had to be financially responsible … health conscious.  There was always the ever looming feeling that there was something more “productive” that I SHOULD (ugh!) be doing.  I had become out of touch with myself and what I actually found pleasurable.  I realized that I couldn’t answer simple questions such as “What’s your favorite ___?”  I was so used to working hard, doing the “right” thing, doing what was convenient for others.  I couldn’t even honestly answer the question, “Would you like a glass of water?” when offered to me because I would immediately default to “no, thank you” so I wouldn’t inconvenience anyone.  So, I began to make a list.  Started to tune in and raise my awareness.  When I found myself enjoying something I would stop and take it in for a moment … be mindful of the moment .. and then write it down.  

So I have discovered that sauteed onions and live acoustic music are two of my favorites. 

I started to realize that my responsibility/pleasure meter was way out of balance. 

Forgetting that allowing ourselves pleasurable moments is not only “not wrong” but is actually needed for our overall well-being (stress levels, physical health, mental health) and positively contributes to the health of our relationships (with ourselves, significant others, friends, children & families).  

Now we don’t have to go wild to embrace pleasure but I encourage you to begin tapping in to yourself again.  Start remembering what it is that you like!  Enjoy those moments of pleasure and plan to have more of them!  Remember that you are worthy of love, pleasure and joy!  

- Amanda