Indecision

Indecision Steals Time, Don’t be a Squirrel!

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Today I’m on day 22 of my 26-day Detox. My body is happy, my head is clear….in fact, my head is buzzing with ideas! Gosh, it’s amazing how much space gets freed up in my noggin’ when I eat super clean, add tons of greens, and skip the salt and sugar for a few weeks!

I especially love that when my body is clean, I find it much easier to make decisions!

“Decisions.

We can think about things,
turn them over in our minds a million times,
play out possible scenarios,
but really when it comes down to it,
you have to go with your heart and move forward.
Maybe things will go well.
Maybe they’ll turn out poorly.
Every decision brings with it
some good, some bad, some lessons, and some luck.

The only thing that’s for sure is that indecision
steals many years from many people who wind up
wishing they’d just had the courage to leap.”

I didn’t write that, it’s a quote from author Doe Zantamata and I wanted to share it with you because I love the truths in it.

Every decision brings good and bad, or like I always say, “Every road has rocks in it.”

Just because you find your road rocky, doesn’t necessarily mean it was the wrong decision, just that rocks are on any road you would have chosen. Every decision has some lessons and some luck.

It’s a New Year, a new start for you. This is the year you get to leap! What is YOUR leap?
What’s that decision you’ve been sitting on, waiting for the right time?
What’s your next best step today toward that leap big or small?

We all know when you fail to make a decision…that IS your decision. To stay put or to stay stuck in the indecision. Like the quote says, “Indecision steals many years from many people.” Don’t let it steal from you.
Get the info, weigh your options, be still and listen, and go forward in faith.

In the words of Nelson Mandela, “May your choices reflect your hopes not your fears.”

Because, when it really comes down to it, you have to go with your heart and move forward.

Much love,
Carolyn

PS – If you want to clear brain fog, lose weight, and be obnoxiously excited about it (like my first paragraph-haha!) Go here to watch a short video about the DETOX I love enough to do twice a year. (I’m very picky what I’ll promote, and yes I’m an affiliate for this program.)

This has never happened to me before…

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So this is how it feels, eh?

In all my life I have NEVER been ready for Christmas a full 10 days ahead!

I mean, this is highly unusual…and I love it!

Many of my gifts needed to be mailed, so I had a deadline to get them sent so they’ll arrive in time for Christmas.

You see, because Dean the dream and I moved across the country earlier this year, we are celebrating Christmas by ourselves for the first time ever. Even before we had babies, we were either with his family or my family, never all on our own.

But don’t feel bad for us, we’re really looking forward to it! This has been a year of new adventures, so it’s all good.

We have so many fun activities planned, including late night Christmas Eve Mass at the Washington National Cathedral (we had to enter a lottery to even get tickets and we manifested it!). This will be another new experience for us!

And of course on Christmas day we’re having a family Zoom call (we’ve been having regular family zooms long before Covid). So, with our activities, our family on zoom, etc. we’ll be alone, but not lonely.

I was just in California visiting my son Sinjin, his darling wife Rochelle (for those who knew her leukemia story last year, update: she’s doing well- thank you for the prayers!) and my two adorable granddaughters. Nothing beats a few days of playing with play-doh and slime, and having deep conversations with a 5 year old and a 3 year old.

On the way home from Cali I stopped in Utah for a week to see my two kids there. They’re doing great, we had a fun week, and I enjoyed that southern Utah warm weather!

And get this…on my travels, I even met my other son in the Phoenix airport on Thanksgiving day for just long enough for a hug and a photo. He was flying from SLC to San Diego, and I was flying from DC to Ontario, Calif. We knew we’d be in the airport about the same time and it just so happened our gates were close, that was awesome!

So, I’ve seen all my kids very recently except my “diplo-daughter” in India – that wasn’t on my route this time. But we talk often even with the wacky time zones.

Wow, I hope this email isn’t sounding like an overly long family holiday newsletter, lol. My point is…

It feels SO great to be prepared, to meet a deadline and be ready early!

I hope with the holidays you’re also feeling that way now…or very soon!

Have a wonderful week of shopping, baking, wrapping, giving and whatever else is on your list.

And also remember to add in a little RELAXING!

Much Love,
Carolyn

monsters - halloween

Monsters Under Your Bed!

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As I was at the grocery store last week, I walked around a corner and GASP! These “dolls” took me by surprise! It brought back a memory from when I was 8 years old and my two sisters and I were having a sleep over with our two girl cousins.

halloween

We were in their basement bedroom, where the sliding closet doors were open revealing 2 dolls standing up, leaned against the back of the closet, eyes glaring at us.

These dolls were pretty, with sweet faces and beautiful dresses, but the way their big blue eyes seemed to look right at me gave me the creeps. In fact, in my mind they looked more like the Halloween dolls in this photo!

As fate would have it, I was the one whose sleeping bag was closest to the closet. I begged my sisters and cousins to trade places with me (after all, I was the youngest) but, unfortunately, I had already pointed out to them how scary the dolls looked. So my sisters said, “No way!” and my cousins loved their dolls, and thought I was just being silly.

That was a rough night for me. I didn’t get much sleep, because I was afraid to close my eyes for fear of what these monster-dolls might do! Once I got it in my head that they seemed a little too creepily life-like (yes, creepily is a real word), I could think of nothing else.

Although seeing the dolls last week in the grocery store brought back the memory, I didn’t experience any fearful emotion connected with it. I was surprised to see them, but there is no longer any residue of fear in my physical or energetic body.

That’s the power of SimplyAlign. It releases the emotional potency of past (and current) situations. The emotions from that experience got cleared from me years ago, so now I have the memory, but without any fearful emotions attached.

There are two lessons from this story:

1) You are in control of what thoughts you let in your mind

We often see a situation and in our mind we make it bigger and scarier than it actually is. Let the scary, negative thought pass (remember, not every thought that floats through your brain is truth) and bring up a positive and more empowering thought about this situation. In my case I could’ve had a restful night had I just told myself:

“Those dolls are not real and can’t hurt me.”

*What are the “dolls” in your life that you are imagining to be bigger and scarier than they really are?

Knock them back down to size by looking at them realistically (even spiritually to find the lesson) and give yourself some go-to positive affirmations to say to yourself instead.

2) It’s time to get rid of the monsters under your bed

You don’t need to carry your past monsters with you. You can release any past or present monsters whether they just rear their ugly heads occasionally, or consistently lurk near you. Those monsters may come as fear, regrets, anger, grief, betrayal, etc. We can learn from all of these, but once you’ve experienced it, you don’t need to carry that any longer.

SimplyAlign is the best tool I know for dissolving those ‘emotional monsters’.

If you’re ready, here’s how I can help:

I have some openings for private sessions

I’ve also trained these amazing Certified SA Practitioners

If you want to get trained in the SimplyAlign Method and become one of our awesome practitioners, click here to get on the Waitlist so you’ll receive info on the upcoming SimplyAlign cerTrac Training Course.

If you’ve ever attended one of my 4-day Trainings in the past, and haven’t registered for next week’s online Refresher Course do it now! We’d love to have you there, and our world needs your help. Registration Closes on Monday, November 1st!

 

 

She believed she could so she did

She believed she could so she did

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The statement on my t-shirt, “She believed she could so she did” is one of my favorites.

In 2001 at home with a newborn, I had the idea that if I could put my Tai Chi classes on video, I could still help people, while staying home with my kids, and also bring in a little income for my family.

I wanted to do something that could help others, give me the time at home to be mama, and do something that I really loved.

So…I did it! I created and filmed Tai Chi Flow – my video/dvd series.

I was often asked, “How did you know how to do that?”

The answer is…I didn’t know. But I believed I could, so I did.

A few years later, I began teaching my energy healing method, SimplyAlign (back then it was called Calyco Healing). I’d learned and created my own style of doing effective energy work five years prior to filming the videos, and my clientele was quickly growing.

And after many requests by clients to train them how to do it, I created a teachable program.

At that time most people didn’t know what energy healing was. There were very few people teaching about it at that time. I wasn’t sure how to do this as a mostly online business because I hadn’t seen it modeled. I had no examples to follow.

But again…I believed I could so I did.

Now, this makes a lovely story 20 years later. BUT…

like every road in life there were bumps and stresses, and a lot of clearing energy for myself to get past the inevitable insecurities that come up while building your own business -phew!

My point is…

You don’t have to be a genius

You don’t have to have all the answers

You can’t know all the outcomes of your efforts ahead of time

You don’t have to know for sure your idea will work

You just need to believe in yourself,
believe in your idea,
and take inspired action.

If you do that, I believe YOU can and I believe YOU will.

So…

What’s your next idea?
(taking a course, running a marathon, starting a biz, baking a soufflé,?)

What’s your next best small step?
(write it down, make it real – yep go ahead, right now, let’s do this!)

And remember, “Whatever Your Mind Can Conceive and Believe, It Can Achieve.” ~Napoleon Hill

 

 

SimplyAlign Refresher

Upcoming: The SimplyAlign Refresher – November 4-5th!

To see more details and register, click here.

Let the Future Change Your Past

Let your future change your past

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A few nights ago my family went to out outdoor musical – The Count of Monte Cristo.

I loved it, the outdoor amphitheater, the voices, the costumes, the music -all. so. good.

There was one line in a song that jumped out to me and is still with me:

I will let the future change the past

For anyone with any regrets about the past (big or small), this is a very inspiring thought.

We always have the power to let go of our past, and move forward with hope.

Letting go isn’t giving up.

Letting go means knowing that there is something greater ahead of you than what lies behind you.

And the more we ruminate in the stories of our past, the more of the present moment we lose.

Find the gift of the lessons in your past and move on, keep the wisdom, but not the emotional pain.

Use the wisdom from your past experiences as fuel for your desired future.

Leave who you were ~ Love who you are ~ Look forward to who you are becoming

If you need help letting go, SimplyAlign is a fantastic tool for releasing emotions that keep us stuck in the past, and for increasing confidence as you move forward into new goals for your future.

If weekly energy tune-ups feel like something you need in your life right now, doors open for my popular Move Up Mondays program very soon! Watch for next week’s emails. I also have openings for single phone sessions on my schedule here.

Regain Calm

7 Simple Ways to Regain Calm

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A lot has happened in our world since January 2020. We’ve all felt much more anxiety (ours, other’s, and the world’s) in this past 21 months. Even sweet Mother Nature has been responding in an eruptive and “fiery” way lately.

With a calm mind we see things from a less frazzled state which helps us to think more clearly, be more loving, and make better decisions. Here are some of my favorite tried and true “calmer-downers”, I hope they work for you too:

4-7-8 Breathing

The 4-7-8 breathing technique, also known as “relaxing breath,” is inhaling in for 4 seconds, holding the breath for 7 seconds, and exhaling for 8 seconds.

(I wrote more about this awhile back in this post)

Dr. Andrew Weil, who teaches the 4-7-8 breathing technique, believes it can help with reducing anxiety and controlling or reducing anger responses. And this one has some added bonuses: he says it can also help a person get to sleep, and helps to manage cravings.

Count to Ten

I know, I know, it might be what your mama told you when you were small, and it may sound too good to be true, but this strategy really works. Just count slowly from one to ten. Try to breathe deeply as you do, as this will enhance the effects. This little trick can help you to quickly gain control of your emotions and feel calmer in a pinch.

Close Your Eyes

Yep. Shutting your eyes for a moment blocks out a great deal of the stimuli that are currently vying for your attention. This brief period of visual stillness will allow you to gather your thoughts and to calm yourself.

Take a Hike

No really…take a little hike, or a simple walk will do. You don’t have to do a full-blown exercise to feel benefits. Taking a leisurely stroll is a great way to settle your nervous system, get grounded and balanced when you need to chill out. Walking is a relaxing activity that gets you moving, literally. It can remove you from a stressful environment and give you fresh perspective.

Try Progressive Muscle Relaxation

If you don’t have time for a walk, an effective calming exercise that you don’t even need to move out of your chair for is progressive muscle relaxation. This is simply tensing and releasing every muscle group in your body (think of it as wringing out the stress!). You can start with your head and work your way downward. Tense up the muscles in your face, hold for a few seconds and then release, then move down to your neck and so on. This exercise can be done in just a few minutes, and you’ll feel tons better afterwards!

Listen to Some Music

We’ve all experienced how the right song at the right time can change your mood. An upbeat song that you know and love will raise your vibration, which is especially good to remember when you need a boost. Music can have a profound effect on your feelings and is a great option to rely on when you want to calm down or feel better. I suggest always having a playlist you love as your go-to when you need to lighten your state of mind.

Get in the H20

Relaxing in a bath of warm water can be quite soothing to the soul as well as calming to the body. To take extra good care of yourself, add bubbles and aromatherapy…because sometimes it just feels good to be fancy. If ‘fancy’ isn’t your thing, you might want to add in about a cup of Epsom salt. The sulfates in it help draw the toxins out of your body, which can also help improve health and promote a general feeling of wellness.

These are just a handful of ways to stay calm when you’re stressed. Choose the ones that resonate with you, and give them a try the next time you feel overwhelmed or when life is chaotic.

“Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.”
Hermann Hesse

New-habits-goals

Six Simple Hacks to Create New Habits and Reset Your Goals

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Happy mid-July!

Can you believe 2021 is more than halfway over?
After 2020’s craziness did you set some new goals and habits in January 2021?

Are you on track with them….or have you fallen behind?

If you’re not where you hoped you’d be by now don’t beat yourself up!

Now is a great time to re-set your goals for the remainder of the year.

Creating new habits isn’t always easy, so here are six simple hacks that will make it a little easier.

1) Schedule It And Put It On The To-Do List

Sometimes we simply forget to do that new thing we were trying. Maybe we forget that we committed to eating more greens by starting each day with a green smoothie. I often make mine the night before and put it in the fridge. It’s not as super fresh, but it’s there waiting for me and makes my mornings so much easier!

With our recent move to DC, I was so excited to purchase a new yoga mat (mine wouldn’t fit in my suitcase, ha!) so that I could do stretches at home in the mornings. But then I found I literally had to write YOGA on my calendar or I’d just jump into my day and forget about my new home-exercise habit!

Schedule your new habits or make them part of your daily to-do list until they become something you do automatically.

2) Make It Public and Be Accountable

Let (supportive) family and friends know what new habits you’re trying to establish. Give them permission to call you out and get you back on track if you don’t stick to your plan.

You may even go as far as sharing it publicly on social media or writing a blog about your new journey. Knowing that others read it and know about it might be just enough to keep you going when you feel like throwing in the towel.

3) Use Habit-Stacking

This means, whenever possible, piggybacking on a habit you already have in place and adding something new to what you’re already doing. It should be anchored to a certain location or time of day.

For example…

  • every time you use the bathroom, stop by the kitchen for a tall glass of water,
  • do calf raises or squats while you brush your teeth,
  • as part of your bedtime routine set out your workout clothes for the next morning,
  • listen to scriptures or an inspiring podcast while putting on your make up.

You get the idea.

It’s much easier to add your new goal to an existing habit or ritual than creating an entirely new one.

4) Make Slip-ups Costly

Here’s an idea, (but this one’s not mine because I don’t love the idea of punishment, eek!). Some people swear by this, so here goes: Put a jar on the kitchen counter and each time you slip back into your bad habit or forget to stick to the new one, you have to put five dollars in the jar. It will quickly help you remember to skip that sugary food and motivate you to go out for that walk. For extra motivation donate the money to charity at the end of the month or hand it over to your spouse to go spend on him or herself.

5) Get an Accountability Buddy

Examples could be a workout partner or a healthy eating buddy. Keep tabs on each other and encourage each other to keep going. It’s much harder to skip a walk if you know someone else is depending on you being there.

On a recent 26-day detox, my friend Pennie and I used Marco Polo to keep in touch from across the country. We’d both done the detox several times before, but it was really great to discuss recipes, etc., etc., etc. with her. I’ve also done it with a group of friends, and it’s so motivating to be in a group who are all working toward a common healthy goal!

So, share the joy. Find someone with the same or similar goal, or invite them to yours. Help them out as they help you, it’s a win/win!

6) Make It A Group Challenge

Like I mentioned in hack #5, if one accountability partner is good, a whole group is even better. And they don’t even need to be local. Find a supportive group online and challenge each other to stick to your new habit for the next 30 days or so. Not wanting to be the first one to give up will keep all of you going until you establish that new habit.

Give these simple little hacks a try. Keep using the ones that you find helpful until you have made new habits you can stick with, without the help of any tools or support.

Much love,

Carolyn Cooper

Father's Day

Lessons from my dad

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Since Father’s Day is this weekend, for this week’s email I wanted to share a few lessons I learned from my dad.

What he taught me with his words, and what he taught me through example.

My dad was a chiropractor and is the one who sparked and encouraged my interest in holistic healing from a young age.

This is an OLD photo from his youth but he was a motorcycle guy his entire life.

Father's Day

My dad passed away 19 years ago when my youngest was only 1 year old. I’m sad they didn’t have much time together because those two would have gotten along great! And I’m sure he watches over her now.

Father's Day

I miss him, but these lessons have definitely impacted my life, and they’re great reminders for us all:

  • Have fun in life
  • Think positively
  • Don’t take things too personally
  • Let go of negatively judging others, most people are doing their best.
  • Everyone just needs to be acknowledged
  • Why be mean when it’s much more fun to be kind

I hope you have a dad or a father figure in your life that inspires you.

This weekend let them know how much they are loved!

 

Also…

Doors open next week for my Tune up Tuesdays program! Spot’s are limited, and it’s first come first served, so here’s your head’s up!

Watch for the emails next week for more details.

Tune Up Tuesdays

Aerobic Competition

So this happened at my Aerobic Competition…

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A long time ago in (what now seems to be) a galaxy far, far away…

I was a contestant in an “Aerobic Competition.”

It was 1990 and I, along with three other fitness instructors from one of the gyms I worked at entered as a 4-person team in a regional competition.

In fact, when I think about it, I can still hear the music although I can’t even tell you what it was because it was one of those groovy, upbeat instrumental tracks with no lyrics, but it’s engrained in my brain forever!

My friends and I had a super cool choreographed routine (or so we thought) and we were excited to present it at this competition.

Despite the fact we were all young, busy moms, we managed to get together to practice enough that we felt confident in our routine.

Aerobic Competition

(NO, this isn’t us, but this looks nearly identical to our outfits!)

At the practice the night before the competition, one of the fitness instructors in our group had an idea to change one part. Not a big deal, we only changed 16 counts. It was good. It made the routine flow better.

We practiced this new way a few times and it felt good. We were ready!

Prior to going on stage we reminded each other of the new part we changed the night before and all agreed that when it got to that part we’d all remember…for sure!

The music started and with big smiles on our faces, we danced onto the stage, in our matching neon-green leotards and flesh colored tights (if you ever went to an aerobics class in the early 90s you’ll be able to picture that…I’m so sorry).

But as fate would have it…

When we got to the new part, and the other three instructors in my group were so nervous they forgot the new changes. They beautifully did the choreography from the original routine.

Which meant I was the only one doing my own thing while the other three were in sync.

It’s great that I remembered the new part, but I wish I hadn’t because not only did it mess up our chances to win the grand prize, it was super embarrassing!

Nobody except my group knew the circumstances behind that big mess up.

Yes, that was thoroughly awkward, but I remember at the time making the CHOICE to laugh it off. The whole purpose of us entering the competition was to have fun, and that we did!

And, we even ended up taking 3rd Place in the competition!

Well, ok there were only three groups in our category, but still, we earned that!

So why do I tell you this story?

We’ve all had times when we felt “out of sync.”

We’ve all had embarrassing moments.

And we all have the CHOICE of how we want to handle those times.

I’m here today to tell you:

“Be You Very Well”

These words were said by St. Francis de Sales, and I couldn’t agree more!

Be You…be the best version of yourself, as often as you can, as well as you can.

Even in times that aren’t ideal, even in embarrassing moments.

And no matter what “choreography” others around you are doing.

Be You Very Well. I believe in you, you’ve got this!

Much love,

Carolyn

Urge to Purge

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For most of last year I had what I call “the urge to purge”. No, I don’t mean throwing up, I mean decluttering my home, purging each room, closet, cupboard, drawer. Throwing away, selling, or giving away so many, many items. I was shocked at how much STUFF we had! Our home is generally clean and tidy (except my office sometimes, eek!) and we’re certainly not hoarders, but seriously…7 bookcases? And all full of books! Or used to be, until “the great purge” that is.

My hubby, Dean the Dream and I built our house nearly 30 years ago. That’s a long time in the same house. We raised five kids in that home, I was surprised to find in some closets we still had a few prom gowns, football jerseys, some baby clothes that I just couldn’t give up back then, and a few other things. Mostly my notebooks…lots and lots of books and notebooks, mostly from my work, classes I’ve taught and classes I’ve taken, and classes I’m planning to teach.

During my “urge to purge” year, (and 2020 was the perfect year for it) I’ve become a fan of some minimalists’ podcasts and YouTube channels which have given me much inspiration! And I found myself continually coming up with metaphors about how decluttering a room is so similar to decluttering our energy systems, our mindset, and even our bodies.

One of the YouTubers I follow is minimalist, Joshua Becker. He says:

“Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it.”

See what I mean? Joshua’s quote is so similar to how SimplyAlign works! Except he was talking about a house, and I work with humans, lol. I help clients intentionally promote their strengths and goals, and we release the limiting beliefs that would otherwise distract them from being their best.

Consistency was key as I cleaned and organized in little bursts of energy and many times I had only small pockets of time. It’s an ongoing process and as long as I live in a home with “things” it will continue to be. Just like our energy systems, it takes consistent effort to keep on top of the negative emotional clutter.

The best part about my urge to purge…

All this minimizing began long before we even knew we’d be moving across the country! I just felt inspired to ‘get my house in order’ and I’m so glad I followed that inspired nudge, it made moving quickly so much easier!

What about you?

Have you been inspired lately to declutter (either your actual home OR emotions)?

Are you feeling nudged to begin or finish a task or goal?

If you need a little boost I’d love to help.

I have 25-min or 50-min SimplyAlign energy balancing sessions available in June.

Or purchase a 3-pack to help you sail through the summer!

“Healing may not be so much about getting better,
as about letting go of everything that isn’t you –
all of the expectations, all of the beliefs –
and becoming who you are.”
Rachel Naomi Remen

Create a SIMPLY great day!

Much love,

Carolyn Cooper