Bliss from Breathing? Really?

May 10, 2022 By Karen Leave a Comment

BLISS FROM BREATHING? REALLY?

I was in the dentist’s chair. He raised the drill and looked at me.
“Relax”
Yeah, right. I guess they didn’t cover brain function in dental school. Otherwise, my dentist would have known that the part of the brain that determines relaxation is beneath language.
Luckily for me, I was aware of that and immediately began to do a breathing protocol. Within minutes, I was soon well on my way to relaxation.

GAMMA BREATHING:

Speaking of relaxation, is that what you experienced last week after you did the Box Breathing exercise? If you missed it, you can ACCESS IT HERE!

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to lead you in several breathing techniques so you can experience the power of breathing protocols to create specific mind/body states. AT WILL. This is a very empowering thing to be able to do. These techniques are quick and effective and won’ t cost you a dime.
Most people think about doing some breathwork when they want to calm themselves down, but different breathing techniques can energize the body too, and catalyze creativity and connection to one’s spirituality.
The one I’m going to lead you through today is called Gamma Breathing because it will stimulate Gamma brainwaves which are faster than all the other waves: alpha, delta, beta, and theta and are known to boost creative thinking, efficient brain processing and feelings of well-being. It’s one of my favourites.

DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE?

I’ll take you though it shortly, but just before I do, I want to mention that I currently have spaces in my calendar if you’re wanting to make some changes in your world.

If there are things you are doing that drain you or get in the way of your happiness, (health issues, a relationship that needs revamping, reactivity or negative self-talk, low self-confidence, etc) and you’d like to learn some powerful tools to create what you know will result in a more soul-satisfying life, contact me for a pressure-free chat about how coaching might help. Send me an email: karen@personalbest.org and we’ll set up a time to chat.

But meanwhile, if you want to change this very moment,

LISTEN TO THE GAMMA BREATHING AUDIO HERE

Have You Had Enough?

May 3, 2022 By Karen Leave a Comment

If You’ve Had ‘Enough’, Start Breathing

Hello everyone. Sorry for the long break since my last post, but I was dealing with a big family health issue that is now resolved. Then I decided to redo my website and week after week passed with me not sending out a blog. Then I heard myself say, “Enough”. So, I reset myself with some breathing and now I”m back to this blog and you, my people.

What I love about breathing protocols is that they increase both my relaxation AND my focus, so it’s perfect for an energetic reset. And once my energy is right, it’s far easier to do the actions that I need to take.

A Guided Breathing Protocol To Help You Reset:

I’ve recorded one of my favourite guided breathing protocols called Box Breathing. All you have to do is click on the Audio below and follow along to experience it.

Box breathing is great for creating stability in both your mind and body. Its rhythmic and repetitive pattern can create deep relaxation in a relatively short period of time. It lowers blood pressure and cortisol and will quieten an overly active mind as well as great for anxiety.

Use it to prepare for meetings, to de-stress after difficult situations or to calm yourself before bed so your sleep is uninterrupted and rejuvenating.

Click on the Audio button below and we’ll do it together. The protocol will last 7 minutes but you can carry on for as long as you want to. And you can listen to this protocol as often as you like.

Here are a few tips to make it the best experience it can be.

Sit instead of lying down. That will help you stay alert.
Let your chest and belly rise with the inhale and fall with the exhale.
When you breathe in, breathe through your nose, but when you breathe out, exhale through your mouth and imagine that you are pushing the air out a straw.

Just before we get started, I want to mention that I have a few openings for new coaching people. Is there something you’ve had enough of? Do you have the feeling that you need to get back on track? Or create a new track? Are you feeling discouraged by the way your life keeps playing out in the same ways that aren’t satisfying to you? (Remember the film Groundhog Day?)

Maybe you just want to be less reactive. Or you want to significantly step up your self-care. Or maybe you want to get yourself a more satisfying job. Or be happier in a certain relationship. Be less critical. Overall, you might wish you could feel more in charge of yourself and your life. Create a sense of soul-satisfaction.

All these desires are what people call me to help them create. And I do. And after a while, our coaching is complete. Which leaves spaces for new people. Would you like to be one of those new people?

If you’re wanting to make things different in your life and want to chat about how coaching might create that, contact me for a pressure-free chat about how coaching might benefit. Yes, I often use breathing protocols, but they are just one of many tools I use to kick-start people’s life creation. Karen@personalbest.org

Okay, it’s time to breathe.

HERE’S THE GUIDED BREATHING PRACTICE FOR THIS WEEK!

Good Girl People-Pleasing Date Rape

September 23, 2021 By Karen Leave a Comment

People-Pleasing

When I was 17, I was still a virgin. I had done my share of making out in cars with some of the boys from school, but they always refrained from going too far. At that time, birth control wasn’t everywhere and going “all the way” was out of the question.

That summer I took a writing course. The out-of-town teacher, a man in his twenties, read from his published work and I was enthralled. When he asked me out for dinner at the end of the workshop, I was flattered and exited. He took me to the expensive restaurant in the hotel and afterwards, said he wanted to read me something. Enchanted, I followed him to the elevator.

He moved quickly once we were in his room and being the quintessential people-pleasing Good Girl, I went along with what he was doing, sure he would stop before things went too far.

Within minutes, it was over and he was stuffing himself back into his jeans. He hadn’t been physically forceful. Or brutal. He had simply used my Good Girl People-Pleasing stance to rape me.

I didn’t tell anyone for over 20 years. But it definitely catalyzed me to help both men and women speak up and learn the skills to Say The Unsayable.

The Price Tag of People Pleasing

I wanted to share this story because we tend to think of ‘people pleasing’ as something we shouldn’t do, like we shouldn’t eat junk food, but we often don’t see its debilitating and soul-destroying affects. For both men and women. I want to wake people up about it.

Most women are somewhat cognizant of our people-pleasing. But we often minimize its price tag to our emotional wellbeing. Men
do people-pleasing behaviours as well. Regardless of your gender, people-pleasing robs us of our ability to stand for ourselves and steals any chance we have of being our full selves.

How Much of A People-Pleaser Are You?

Want to see where you fall on the continuum of people pleasing behaviours? Read the statements below. Check mark all the bahaviours you currently engage in.

You get nervous when other people get upset with you.
Even when your own schedule is more than full, you give your time to someone else.
You apologize for small, unimportant things like being 2 minutes late or unintentionally jostling against someone.
You laugh when other laugh even if you aren’t amused.
You give in and go along with another even when this involves doing something you either don’t want to do or don’t feel is right to do.
You feign interest even when you aren’t.
You apologize when others have a strong emotion & feel responsible for their emotions.
You avoid giving your opinion when you imagine it will be
You say ‘Yes’ when you don’t want to.
Saying ‘No’ is very difficult.

Please help me spread the word by sharing this email:

‘KARENS’ AND WHITE PRIVILEGE

September 14, 2021 By Karen Leave a Comment

‘Karens’ and White Privilege:

‘Karens’ have been called entitled. Histrionic. Self-absorbed. Even racist.

According to the Urban Dictionary, a ‘Karen’ is a middle-aged women, typically blond, who makes a big fuss over minor inconveniences. An example is the woman who sued a city council after they installed a STOP sign that blocked the sun from her window for 10 minutes a day. (The sign was put in after a child was hit by a speeding driver and killed.)

When Your Name Is An Insult:

This type of person is nasty, but lots of people are nasty who aren’t named ‘Karen’. But ‘Karens’ are getting bashed these days all over the Internet. I should know. I am named Karen. I like to think I’m an ‘evolved Karen’ and that the judgements about my name don’t apply to me, but, nonetheless, they sting. You’ll understand one day if your own name becomes a derogatory word. The Lindas, Becky’s and Chads of the world have already been through it.

Why are ‘Karens’ getting hit so hard? What is this anti-Karen movement all about? When I heard someone call Donald Trump referred to as a “Karen in Chief”, I knew I had to do some digging. As I explored, it seemed to me that our culture is always trying to self-regulate and this is a good thing. Right now, there is a great deal of rejigging, much needed rejigging, around the issue of white privilege. Most white people are swimming in privilege and don’t even know it, so the ‘Karen’ bashing is a way our culture is trying to get us to SEE privilege more clearly and it’s easier to see in the behaviours of some white, blond, middle-aged women. And my goodness, we so need to see it!

Call The Manager:

For example, a friend of mine said she didn’t realize she was being entitled when she heard herself telling her husband to “call the manager” when he was displeased in a store one day. This friend isn’t named ‘Karen’ but realized she was acting like the ‘Karen’ so many people are talking about. And she changed her behaviour and retracted her request. Being ‘unKaren like’ can be a good thing.

But there are also good things about actually being a ‘Karen’. First of all, many of them are highly sensitive. They feel things acutely and can often sniff what they consider ‘injustice’ a mile away. Okay, maybe two miles away. And once their snouts have gotten hold of what they think is injustice, they are willing to shout about it long and hard. And they have no scruples about taking action when others won’t. It’s almost as if they enjoy rocking the boat.

Saying The Unsayable:

Our culture needs more people speaking up right now. We have been quiet for WAY too long about the atrocities being done to the planet and its divergent peoples. But we need to do it in a way that can be heard. (This is my superpower, helping people “say the unsayable” in ways that will be respected and heard.)

So, this is a call to all ‘Karens’. Instead of brandishing white privilege, speak out against it. Let’s be the blonds at the front of the protest march, the pushy broads who stand up to the cops when they are acting in racist ways.

The world needs us ‘evolved Karens’ now more than ever.

WOMEN ARE STUPID! WHAT?

August 25, 2021 By Karen Leave a Comment

Uprooting Old Beliefs:

“Women are stupid.” It’s hard to believe that people ever accepted that belief, but they did. Even women themselves believed it. Which made it very difficult for women to speak up and for men to listen when they did!

Many women, and men too, still have beliefs that silence them. That’s why in my new course, Inner Authority, Saying the Unsayable, I’ll be teaching people how to uninstall old ones and reinstall new ones.

Old Beliefs are rooted in the unconscious:

Dr. Chris Walton, who wrote The Gamma Mindset, contends that the conscious mind is only in charge about 5% of the time. The vast majority of our behaviour is determined by programs that are buried in our unconscious. These programs, or beliefs, were installed by parents and the prevailing culture. Most of us are not even aware of them. This is partly because as scientists like Bruce Lipton say, most of these programs are firmly installed by the time we’re 7 years old.

Old Beliefs have nothing to do with Self-discipline:

No wonder it feels so difficult to change behaviours. We all know the limitations of self-discipline. New research on discipline is showing that we all only have a limited amount of it and it usually runs out before new habits have had enough time to establish themselves.

What about affirmations? Because they use only the conscious mind, they can only have a very limited effect.

Fortunately there are new mind technologies that can access the unconscious..Using myself as a guinea pig, I’ve been experimenting with a specific protocols and I’m excited by the results I’m getting.

Installing a New Belief:

I start by determining a specific belief that I’d like to have. Then, I muscle test the belief to assess how strong or weak it is in my energetic system. If it’s weak, I do a short protocol that involves some specific breathing, then some specific tapping, and a heart coherence process while I rest in what’s called the Whole Brain posture.

This takes about 10-15 minutes max. When I’m done, I muscle test again and usually find that the belief is strong and robust. And always feel more energetic.

Would you like to try it out?

I’m going to be teaching this protocol in my new course, Inner Authority, Saying and Unsayable, because I often find that beliefs often hold people back from speaking their truth and I want to teach tools that people can use on their own to free themselves up.

To learn more about the course, click HERE NOW!