Authentically Joycelynn

Living My Best Authentic Life

Wellness

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Travel Day to Europe is HERE!

Travel Day Has Arrived

I’d dreamed of this day for over a year! I couldn’t believe it was all in order and now I had awakened to the most fabulous day! The first thing I noticed was I felt like I heard a “pop” in my mouth. Like my jaw popped. That’s not what it was. It was a cap on one of my front teeth. Not one of the two in the middle. It was the one on the right, right beside my middle teeth. It was NOT fixable. I was left with a metal post hanging down in the place where the cap of a tooth had once been.

One of my worst nightmares realized on one of the biggest days of my life.  Just a background, but as a child I had TONS of strep throat events in a two year period and had been exposed to Tetracycline…over and over and over again. It had ruined my teeth. Little by little, the damage to my teeth has been experienced, to where I’m at the point I need a major overhaul on my teeth. It’s not from lack of brushing or taking care of them. It from the exposure to the drug many years ago. I’d had to have a root canal on this particular tooth when I was pregnant with my second child. And…now it was gone. If I smile openly, the gap is there.  I made the decision right then and there… I’m NOT my teeth. I’m NOT my inadequacies. I’m a worthy individual, even with a glaring gap in my teeth. I’m good enough even in spite of my deficiencies. I’m saving money for major dental work…and it’s not going to happen on travel day.

Point here…realize your worth is NOT in what you feel is an inadequacy. Your value as a person is internal not external.  That’s enough about my tooth. I told you I was going to share EVERYTHING that impacted me on this trip!

Vulnerability

I can’t continue this series without letting you know how I was feeling inside about the trip. I never had what I would say “fear” about the trip. About a week before the trip, I began to have a little struggle on the inside. The current state of our world is enough to give anyone pause. I’d be flying into a city (Paris)  where terrorist activity had killed 130 people only a few months prior (November 2015). I’d be flying into a city where only a few weeks ago, an airplane left the airport and the people aboard were never seen again. I’d be traveling to a train station in a city where only a few months prior had been prey to a terrorist attack bombing at their airport (Belgium). I silently wondered if when I left this country, would I see my family again.

Would I find myself involved in being in the right place at the wrong time were a terrorist acticity occur? I had to say, the reason or purpose for my trip outweighed any fear or thoughts of my own demise. What I purposed to do and learn outweighed the chance that I would face something devastating. I knew if something happened to me, it could never be said I allowed fear to keep me from doing something that could be life-changing by taking the chance. So now you know. I did think about my own mortality. I’m a woman of strong faith and relationship with God. By my own understanding, I’d still be OK, even if I no longer existed in this earthly vessel. I did phone all my kids before I left. Telling them how much I loved them. I also had that same love conversation with my mother and my husband. None of them knew the thoughts I had or why I was making sure I spoke to each of them before I left.

That’s all I’m sharing for this post. I’m back home. So, you all know I didn’t meet a demise at the hands of terrorists. I’m so enriched by this experience. The next blog post will be a bit more colorful. Yes. This is where the funny Becky Bloomfield stories of the Shopaholic series starts. It started the moment this diva stepped out into foreign soil.

Love you and and thanks for reading and following along with me on this journey. It’s not really about me…for me it’s about sharing my story and inspiring your to create yours.

I’d love to hear from you! Leave me a comment below and let me know a little about you!

PS… I’ve got about 14 more posts to write in this series… Each day was so full, and SO many beautiful pics I’ll be including! Be sure to check back for new articles over the next few days!

Here is the next post. Stress Free Diva Goes to Europe: Departure and Arrival.

Be Well,

Joyce

 

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Self-Responsibility, Mindfulness, & Gratefulness

Self Responsibility

Healing begins on the inside. From the most fit-appearing person to the most un-fit appearing…healing begins internally. It’s a mindset, not an appearance. So, open your mindset to allow a gentle healing to begin within.  Recognize we are responsible for our health and wellbeing. We are faced with choices continually during the day. Society during the years has promoted that other people know what is best for us. That includes our teachers, our health care providers, and even the media.

This type of logic will keep us in a perpetual state of looking for that magic book, pill, or health care provider which will give us the right answer for our wellbeing. It’s really not so. We have the answers within us for our own well-being journey. We do need to search out information from experts. The issue becomes when we shift responsibility to others we give up personal ownership of our lives. As a nurse, I can’t tell you how many people take medications on a daily basis and have no idea what they are taking, or why they are taking it. They tell me they do whatever their doctor tells them to do. So, realizing we are responsible for our choices is step 1. Become an active participant in any health care you receive.

 

Mindfulness & Gratefulness

 

Let’s start right now by taking 5 minutes to do nothing else but be still. Allow yourself just to sit or lie still for a moment. Get comfortable. Clear your mind of the day’s or evening’s duties. Take just 5 minutes to ignore everything around you and take your mind to a place of gratefulness for the day. Start with a few slow, deep breaths. Within yourself, give a word of thankfulness either for the day ahead, or for the things you’ve experienced.  Be mindful of your day.

I actually DO this every morning. Some days I’m up at 5:00 AM to head out early to work. After getting my bath and I rush to get ready… I stop for a few moments. I lie back down on my bed. I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths. I meditate a few moments about my upcoming day. I take time to pray, and give thanks for the awesome say I’m going to experience. I develop a heart of gratitude for my peaceful day. I think about all the lives I’m going to touch that day. I get up with a sense of calm and peace. It really helps!

 

If you have a nook or kindle device, find a really nice e-book to enjoy. Louise Hay has a really nice book about healing, called  Heal Your Body. You know, we beat ourselves up for very small things. Underlying issues could be we don’t feel worthy, we don’t feel good enough, or we feel guilty for investing time in ourselves when look around and see all the “stuff” that needs our attention.

Let’s begin to understand the awesomeness we have within and beging to shift ownership of our life from others and begin to trust ourselves. Begin to love who we are and what we have to contribute to our own wholeness.

I’ve sent this article out to those on my email list. Oh, it’s got a few added things like a smoothie recipe, and a body scrub recipe. I share extra goodies with those on my mailing list…

Enjoy your day and evening.

Be well,

Joyce

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Setting Boundaries on Social Media to Reduce Stress

 

Setting Boundaries on Social Media to Reduce Stress

I’ve started setting boundaries on social media to reduce stress. Have you ever experienced negativity in your newsfeeds? Have you every been involved in groups where people getting into arguments? Possibly you’ve even made a status update and had people break out in an argument from your post? 

I’ve found in social media that many people hide behind their computers and say things they would NEVER say in person. It’s almost like the anonymity gives people this brass boldness to speak harshly and however they like especially if they are making comments to people they don’t know.  This can happen in any social media setting. I’m going to speak mostly about Facebook, since that is one I am on most of the time, and have the most experience with.

 

Setting Boundaries in a Group

I’m a member of SEVERAL groups on Facebook, and it’s very important to set boundaries. Maybe I should have started with personal timelines, but the groups really irritated me today, so I’m starting with the groups. Now, certainly if you are a drama queen, and LOVE to instigate the drama, this information won’t apply. However, I like to have peaceful surroundings and I’m constantly monitoring those situations I have control over. 

First of all, PLEASE do not AUTOMATICALLY ADD people to your group. It is common courtesy to send someone a message or ask them on their timeline to join your group and send them a link to it. If they desire to join the group, they will. Invite people. Let THEM make the decision. Yea. That is a pet peeve of mine. I think for that reason I don’t like the “Facebook parties” that have become so popular. You aren’t invited. You are added. That usually turns me off right away from whatever the are selling. Do you feel the same way?

When you DO join a group, unless you want a gazillion notifications, go immediately to the notifications and modify the group. You can keep the notifications just like they are (and you will get a notification on every post), you can turn notifications off, you can get friends posts notifications, or only highlights. 

If in a group, you can also decide if you want that group to be a “favorite” group, meaning it will show up more in your newsfeed. If the group gets annoying at anytime, but you want to still see what’s going on from time to time, you can “unfollow” the group. That way you will need to make a purposeful effort to look up the group to see what’s being talked about.  If they group gets really annoying or there seems to be a lot of negative drama in the group, you can also “leave” the group. At this time you have the choice to decide whether someone can add you back in the group, or whether no one can add you back to the group.  

A good group has good moderators that try and oversee the posts which may erupt into arguments or someone who may be doing spammy advertising. Even with the best of moderators, the groups can get out of hand especially with hot button topics like “which essential oil company is best”,  or groups where other hot topic themes may occur. 

That’s pretty much the basics for groups on Facebook. 

Your Personal News-feed

Social Media Reducing Stress

 

Negative people. It’s inevitable. You will find yourself having friend-ed people on Facebook or Twitter, who are negative. This could be a relative, or someone you went to high school with. It could even be your best friend. Just how do you handle your “friends” on Facebook. 

Be picky about who you accept as a friend on any social media. Do you know the individual sending a friend request? Do you have mutual friends or have you maybe “met” the individual in a group?

When negative or offensive conversations end up on your news-feed there are several actions you can take.

  1. You may want to determine if the offensive conversation is “out of the norm” from your friend. Maybe they are having a bad day, or are having difficulty handling a circumstance or situation in their life. I usually look at the patterns of this “friend”. If they are normal positive and have things to offer, I usually ignore one offense and chalk it up to a bad day.
  2. You can “unfollow” an individual. When you “friend” an individual there is an icon that is automatically turned on called “Follow”. It’s very easy to “unfollow” and they will not show up on your newsfeed anymore. You will have to actually put their name in a search to see their status updates and recent posts. This is a GREAT way to get constant “advertising” out of your feed. Some companies actually encourage their “reps” to post constantly about their products. Yep. That’s probably a product I’m NOT going to use. Just saying. If people want what you have, they will ASK you for more information. (yes many years ago, I’m sure I made this mistake and I’m very sure people have unfollowed me over it, and it’s OK. We ALL learn from our mistakes)
  3. You CAN unfriend people. Really. You don’t have to create drama and call out the individual. Just unfriend. You really don’t owe an explanation to anyone. Really you don’t.
  4. You can also set people to “acquaintances”. This way, if you don’t want everyone seeing or reading, or commenting on your posts, you can send your posts out “custom”, and sent to everyone but “acquaintances.
  5. You can BLOCK people. Yes. I’ve blocked people. This way you will not see what they post, and they cannot find you. Sometimes this is your only option if you find that an individual is “stalking” you or causing more drama and stress than you want.

I find by setting boundaries on social media that I can reduce my stress. I like peaceful supportive friends. I like to be a peaceful supportive friend. On occasion I may put up a rant. It’s rare. I love to share uplifting positive posts and articles. Everyone has a bad day from time to time. I love being able to look on Facebook and find encouragement.

Creating simple steps in all areas of your life to reduce stress really begin to add up! Sign up for my newsletter to start getting tips to reduce YOUR stress!

Be Well! Be De-Stressed!

Joyce

 

 

 

 

 

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Best Self Help Books for Women on Amazon

Best Self Help Books for Women on

Best Self Help Books for Women On Life, Love, & Health

I’m an AVID reader! I love self-help books, so I thought I would share my favorites. So, here is my list of 10 best self help books for women on Amazon and you can find them all on Amazon. Most are available by on Kindle, if you want something instant! (I LOVE to hold a book in my hands, but sometimes I want the book NOW)  The 10 Best Self Help Books for Women on life, health, and nurturing that I’ll be sharing, are my personal favorite and have make a huge impact on my life!

1. Eat, Pray, Love   by Elizabeth Gilbert.  I was given this book for Christmas when it first came out in 2007. This book was instrumental in my life as I was beginning to re-think the path I was walking along in regard to my career and what I really wanted out of life. This is NOT a “how to” book, but rather a simple book sharing the journey of Elizabeth Gilbert. She reached a point in her life where she was questioning her choices in marriage, career, and life in general. Every page was a genuine outpouring of her desire search for meaning and love. I’ve also seen the movie and Julia Roberts did a great job capturing the essence of the book.

2. You Can Heal Your Life  by Louise Hay. A great description from Amazon about this book, “Louise’s key message in this powerful work is: If we are willing to do the mental work, almost anything can be healed. Louise explains how limiting beliefs and ideas are often the cause of illness, and how you can change your thinking…and improve the quality of your life!”  This is a favorite recommendation as a one of my best self help books for women on healing your life.

3. Herbal Healing for Women by Rosemary Gladstar.  I’m an herbalist and aromatherapist, and this book is a great overview of using herbal help to support common issues that is particular for women. I own Healing Streams Wellness Center for women, and this is a reference book I find valuable in that center. I personally have experienced periods of stress and burnout in my nursing career, and this reference has been a great support for me.  Great herbs at Mountain Rose Herbs.

Best Self Help Books for Women on

 

4. Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief   By far, this book gave me a great “ah ha” into understanding my own personal burnout experience. I felt like I was experiencing “adrenal fatigue” which I do know is not a “medically accepted” term at this time. I was experiencing extreme fatigue, exhaustion, and feelings of overwhelm. When I read this book, I cried. FINALLY, I found something that made sense to me and it explained my situation. I created teas and things like “adaptogen balls” that I could use to support and nourish my body.  I use Mountain Rose Herbs  for most of my herb purchases and really love their quality.

5. Mind Over Medicine  by Dr. Lissa Rankin.  I loved this book. This was about a woman’s journey, similar to Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love, except it’s about a physician, which is great, because since I’m a nurse, I felt I related specifically to her struggle in Western Medicine.  A very moving journey of Dr. Rankin. I found this to be a one of the best self help books for women on life journey.

6. The Wellness Workbook  by John W. Travis, MD was a textbook I used during my training as a Wellness Coach. This book was instrumental in helping me heal during a severe time of burnout in my life. I use it daily as a tool when sharing with others now as a Wellness Coach. This is the one of the best self help books for women on wellness that I know of! Truly one of my favorites!

best self help books for women on

 

7. Healing Your Family History: 5 Steps to Break Free of Destructive Patterns by Rebecca Hintze. I love this book. Let’s be honest. Many of us have “stinkin thinkin” and it can come from destructive thought patterns developed from childhood. I found this book to be very helpful to me personally as I worked through the “why” of my though patterns. I have found this to be one of my favorite self help books for women on working through destructive thought patterns.

8. One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way by Robert Maurer, Phd.  This is a nice little book that can be a life changer. When you learn you don’t have to do it all at once, or take huge impossible steps; you will be amazed at your progress in reaching goals! One of my favorite for sure!

9. Forgiveness: 21 Days to Forgive Everyone for Everything  This was a great book. Bitterness is as the root of so much stress and even physical problems. It’s imperative to explore this subject especially if we want to grow past what may be hindering us.

10. How to Hug a Porcupine: Dealing With Toxic & Difficult to Love Personalities Great book on learning to deal with the difficult people in our lives, and how to set boundaries.

11. Declutter Your Life: Reduce Stress, Increase Productivity, and Enjoy Your Clutter-Free Life  Clutter will destroy our peace! I totally believe this! It’s unreal what clutter does to compromise your peace and even productivity.  This is one of the best self help books for women on how to declutter.

I hope you enjoy my book suggestions for self help books for women! I certainly found them to be life changing.

Be Well!

Joyce
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