23 Oct

Posted at 20:09h in Uncategorized

  Is not getting what you want the key to happiness? It’s a question that sounds counterintuitive to most people, but there is research to suggest that it’s true.   In my work with Reiki and hypnosis, I am regularly confronted with questions about the nature of happiness, life satisfaction, emotions, and more. It seems we’re all looking for a comfortable way to be in this world, to manage our lives, and optimize our outcomes.   The Zen folks will tell you that the secret of the path is that there is no path – we are already here… now. But you and I both...

14 Sep

Posted at 18:16h in Uncategorized

How to Leave Your Comfort Zone & Meet Your Truest Self   The Stoics say that discomfort is where learning and growth occur. But we don’t have to subscribe to the ancient philosophy of Stoicism to know that! All of us have experienced challenges in our lives that led us to very good places. Of course, this doesn’t usually happen without a bit of a fight on our end because facing adversity is never pleasant. It’s not until we’re out of the woods of difficulty that we can truly appreciate how much we learned through the sticky process of giving ourselves over...

18 Jul

Posted at 21:07h in Uncategorized

(But it is the Easiest & Most Important Thing You’ll Ever Do)   Learning self-love is becoming an increasingly critical task. There’s a shared feeling that we’re moving, evolving, discovering, experiencing life at a rate faster than ever before. Whether or not that’s actually the case, the feeling is there and along with it a requirement to meet life, sometimes as though it were hard work, a mountain to climb, a task to complete, a challenge to overcome.   But as intelligent humans, we know that to arrive is simply to begin again, rather than finish: a new year, a new project, a new moment....

21 Jun

Posted at 19:37h in Uncategorized

Managing Andropause & the Middle-Age Male Shift Naturally   “Men get menopause too?” My friend’s teenage daughter asked me this recently as we drank herbal tea out in my garden one afternoon in late spring. The tea nearly shot out through my nose. “Well, not exactly,” I replied. I explained that while men definitely go through a change, it doesn’t involve a total shutdown of their reproductive organs.   But that’s not to say that men don’t experience symptoms associated with declining hormones. It’s important to mention up front that just as women’s experience with menopause is subjective, that is, an individual process, so...

17 May

Posted at 15:43h in Uncategorized

Recently, I came across an article on menopause and HRT––hormone replacement therapy––that claimed HRT is “the most effective treatment for menopause symptoms.”   I have a difficulty swallowing these types of claims because as someone who has supported many women with menopause over several years, the reality is that every woman is different. Every single woman has a unique constitution, which is to say, we all experience menopause in our own unique way.   For some women, menopause is a physiological, emotional, and hormonal nightmare (well, it feels that way). For others, it’s a walk in the park on one of those perfect sparkling...

24 Apr

Posted at 19:25h in Uncategorized

  As you’ve likely experienced, hormones get a little out of balance in the years leading up to menopause and during menopause itself.   Okay, I won’t sugar coat it––hormones, particularly estrogen and progesterone, go veritably crazy! While this phase of life is relatively mild for some women, other women experience intense symptoms, including severe hot flashes, weight gain, anxiety, and panic attacks.    According to one source, women are more susceptible to panic and anxiety than men, and the tendency to experience one or both increases with age. Indeed, hormonal changes may precipitate attacks.   If you’re no stranger to panic attacks, then this article will...

09 Feb

Posted at 17:47h in Uncategorized

When I was in my 30s, I remember hearing about “the shift” that happens in the 40s. My older friends would warn me, “your hormones go nutso, you can’t eat as much because everything sticks,” and, “you have to get more exercise but you’re just so tired all the time, it’s so much harder to keep fit.”    Sure, I thought. As long as I stick to a healthy diet and daily exercise in some form or another, it’ll be okay.    Then, it happened. Well I should say, it started happening. I began noticing those first telltale signs of “the shift.” While I’m...

26 Dec

Posted at 20:00h in Uncategorized

Declining Estrogen & Every Woman’s Worst Nightmare (if only she could sleep)   You wake up a little too early again. Your body is hanging onto last night’s sleep but your mind seems ready to start the day. You do a quick check in. Your sheets are slightly damp from that middle-of-the-night sweat session. Your body feels worn. There’s some fuzziness behind your eyes and a general lethargy. Yet your body buzzes with an undercurrent of anxiety. Looks like you’re waking up to just another normal Tuesday, or any other day of the week for that matter!   Insomnia sucks, and it’s one of...

25 Oct

Posted at 17:36h in Uncategorized

  What are the two most common symptoms of menopause and perimenopause? You guessed it –– hot flashes and night sweats. If you guessed it, you’re probably already experiencing them to some degree.   Before we dive into what hot flashes are, what causes them, and how hypnosis can help hot flashes, I want to define some terms. I also want to peel back a few layers that tend to reduce menstruation and this major transition in a woman’s life to nothing more than a bothersome shift in hormones to be minimized or managed and consider how we can nurture this process with...