Welcome to this week’s issue of Weekly Wellness Wisdom! The path toward wellness is unique for each of us. Consider your authenticity – essentially, who you are when you’re truly real and honest with yourself. What if you brought that awareness into your decisions about wellness? When we are deeply connected with our values, our gifts, our vulnerabilities and our hopes (our authentic selves), we are moving on a powerful path toward wellness. For each of us, this path is unique and continually unfolding within each moment.
Today’s feature article explores the idea of Self-Acceptance, one of several paths I teach my clients and workshop participants about connecting with our authenticity and thereby reaching our wellness goals and behaviors
What’s New from Centered Living
Are you a wellness coach? Interested in expanding your practice and your coaching skills? Please consider joining my new MasterMind program! A Q&A teleconference is scheduled for next Tuesday, May 22nd at 4pm EST. Can’t make the call? Register anyway and I’ll email you the audiofile link and you can listen to the call at your convenience. To register, simply email me at: lori@loriboothroyd.com
Wellness Wisdom Feature Article
Accepting yourself with Compassion – The Key To Moving Forward
What role does compassion play on our authentic path to wellness? Consider for a moment the messages we send ourselves each day. How many times do you catch yourself telling yourself something like this: “I need to get in better shape. I should be eating healther. I’ve got to slow down and take better care of myself! Why can’t I just stay disciplined?” The self-criticism goes on and on!
While this type of self-awareness is indeed valuable and can be part of our motivation for making change, in the process we generally beat ourselves up pretty bad. That self-abuse tends to drain our energy and motivation. Rather than “whipping ourselves into shape”, we instead trap and paralyze ourselves with these “insistences”, filling our minds with “shoulds, oughts and supposed to’s”.
How effective does this seem for you? Generally this kind of self-defeating behavior paralyzes our efforts and minimizes the positive that already exists. What typically comes with excessive self-criticism are stress related health problems such as ulcers, depression, insomnia and high blood pressure. Not to mention, we generally give up on our wellness visions, throwing our hands up in frustration.
What’s the answer? It may feel paradoxical, but the most beautiful beginning on a journey toward change is complete acceptance of ourselves in the here-and-now. Giving ourselves a hard time only creates more resistance and is simply exhausting.
Acceptance, on the other hand, is about willingly receiving what already is here. Let me be clear: Acceptance does not mean resignation. Quite the contrary: When we accept things and ourselves just as we are, it frees us (and our energy) to new possibilities. Just try it this week and you’ll see what I mean. We give ourselves permission to start anew and to feel more deeply what it is we truly need in order to be on a path to wellness.
Your wellness challenge this week: Ask yourself “What in my life needs to be honored and accepted right now? Where do I need to be gentle with myself? What possibilities does this self-acceptance create?
Let me know what happens if you wish – I’d love to hear from you! Email me at lori@loriboothroyd.com and share your experiences of playing with “appreciative acceptance”.
Next week’s article will explore the wellness challenge of “Finding your Contem-place”. What, you may ask, is a “Contemplace”? Stay tuned and find out!
Personal Reflections
This week I’ve come to a deeper appreciation for Spring, that sudden and welcome change of season here in my little corner of the world. Finally, the cold northern Michigan winter gives way to warm sunshine, blue skies and the greening of our forests. In only one day last week, I was aware of the leaves on the trees suddenly opening from little buds to full, bright green leaves. Poof! Our home is now camoflagued from the road and any neighbors by a luscious canopy of green. I’m back to daily walks and meditation within my labyrinth garden. The herd of deer we fed through the harsh winter nibbles on the new green growth, so we don’t see them nearly as often nowadays. Birds sing joyfully as they build nests to raise their young. Spring fever abounds! Many of you have read my thoughts about “Psychic Gardening” and the ways in which we cultivate life-generating behaviors and spirit into daily living. Right now, wisdom and mindfulness can be gained by cultivating some spirit through “Outer Gardening”, or just being in nature. This week, I challenge you to get your bare feet in the dirt and take a few moments to savor the change in season where you live, however subtle the shift may be……..simply notice what can be savored each quiet moment spent in nature.
To your wellness,
Lori
About Lori
Dr. Lori Boothroyd is known as the “Coaching Psychologist”. She has served her clients and students well over the years through integrating her knowledge from earning a Ph.D. in psychology, as well as her advanced training in coaching and wellness psychology. Appreciated for her warmth and down-to-earth style as much as her expertise, Lori is a dynamic speaker, author and coach. She lives in Traverse City, Michigan with her husband, Dr. Gregory Boothroyd. For a complimentary coaching consult, to inquire about programs or to ask any questions, please email: lori@loriboothroyd.com.
