Going Down Memory Lane

Life is made up of memories. In fact, it can be said that what we remember creates our lives. From the moment we start remembering our experiences our brains create memory pools that get accessed when we revisit information, behaviors, activities, and especially when we get reconnected to people from our past.

Connecting with the past

I am accessing those pools of memories this week! I’m visiting my hometown in Minnesota and spending time with my mom, my siblings, and their families. Just being with them easily brings up “do you remember this?” conversations and going down memory lane. I’m sure each and every one of us has that happen when we’re with family and friends we haven’t seen for a while.
This time around Mom brought out boxes of old stuff that my sister and I needed to go through. I was blown away by the stories that pictures, dolls, stuffed animals, books, and keepsakes brought up. We had fun sharing our memories!

Creating memories

And then there are the fun times with my grand nieces and nephews ranging in age from 5 to 9. I’m a big kid at heart, so my suitcase had all sorts of projects to do with them. I have to admit that I had an ulterior motive! I wanted my time with them to be memorable, so when I talk to them on the phone, they know who I am and how important they are to me.

Creating the desire to be healthy

A big part of that for me is introducing them to energy work and especially to self-help acupressure. I want them to know how easy it is for them to feel healthy, productive and happy. So I’m teaching them the Daily Clean Your House Flow and showing them how to feel good. They love the Daily Clean Your House Flow animated video, and that puts a smile on my face. I know that we have created some great memories, especially when the 6-year-old says to her mom, “I love how Aunt Deb spoils me. I’m going to do the Daily Flow now.”

Teach Your Children Wellness

Spoil your kids! Teach them how to be their care providers. They deserve to be healthy and happy!

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January is National Mentoring Month

Where is time going? Have you heard that question from your children? Time is passing so fast and it seems like every minute is filled with stuff that has to get done. No wonder our children are experiencing stress and the feeling of “not enough time.” We’re the best models of that behavior!

Here is a suggestion that I would like to share with you. Be a mentor to your very own children! Mentoring is simply a way to ensure that our young people have the support they need to discover success. It’s an attitude and a way of being.

What Makes a Mentor?

A mentor is an experienced and trusted adviser who can be instrumental as a guide, counselor, confidant, trainer, teacher, or tutor. Granted it wold be great to spread the wealth and mentor others as well, but if you can’t fit it in to your schedule, at least discover and utilize the skills with your own children.

Or maybe you mentor another family and those parents mentor your children. Sometimes it really makes sense to get different perspectives and who better than someone you already know and trust? At the very core, mentoring children guarantees that there is someone who cares about them and makes them feel like they matter.

Reasons to Be a Mentor

What better person than a mentor to help a child, no matter their age, to move forward towards goals and objectives that YOU help them realize?

Mentoring, at its core, guarantees young people that there is someone who cares about them, assures them they are not alone in dealing with day-to-day challenges, and makes them feel like they matter. Research confirms that quality mentoring relationships have powerful positive effects on young people in a variety of personal, academic, and professional situations. Ultimately, mentoring connects a young person to personal growth and development, and social and economic opportunity. Yet one in three young people will grow up without this critical asset.

When you’re spending time with your own children or others in that mentoring mode, plan on doing the Daily Clean Your House Flow before you “get down to whatever is happening that day.” It will help everything go smoother, even homework!

Photo credit: Northern Ireland Executive viaFoter.com / CC BY-ND

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Mentoring is a Way to Create Success for Our Children

Mentoring is a way to share with our children. It seems appropriate to contemplate what we can do for the children in our communities as we celebrate National Mentoring Month during January.

How You Can Help

Mentoring doesn’t have to take a huge amount of time. It can easily be a short period of time in your week. Contact one of your local schools to see how you could participate in any of their programs. Or go to www.mentoring.org to see how that organization can get you on the mentoring track.

Everybody Wins with Mentoring

When you’re contemplating the possibility of becoming a mentor, consider these positive effects noted on their website:

Students who meet regularly with their mentors are 52% less likely than their peers to skip a day of school and 37% less likely to skip a class. (Public/Private Ventures study of Big Brothers Big Sisters)
Young adults who face an opportunity gap but have a mentor are 55% more likely to be enrolled in college than those who did not have a mentor. (The Mentoring Effect, 2014)

In addition to better school attendance and a better chance of going on to higher education, mentored youth maintain better attitudes toward school. (The Role of Risk, 2013)

If you decide to become a mentor, let me know how it goes! And a suggestion is to make use of the Daily Clean Your House Flow when you get together with the young person you’re working with. Both of you will discover how much more you get accomplished and how much better you feel!

Life Is So Very Full

And yet it is so very important to find ways to help our children discover success at home, school, and in all of their activities.

The children, parents and teachers I work with have found that doing the Daily Clean Your House Flow (a self-help acupressure flow) helps increase focus, attention, and productivity. It reduces stress and anxiety and helps balance emotions. So imagine what benefits are being seen when a classroom of kids are doing the Daily Flow together! And it takes less than 10 minutes to watch the video!

Mentoring is another way to ensure that our young people have the support they need to discover success. At the very core, it guarantees that there is someone who cares about them and makes them feel like they matter. A mentor is an experienced and trusted adviser who can be instrumental as a guide, counselor, confidant, trainer, teacher, or tutor. What better person than a mentor to help a child, no matter their age, to move forward towards goals and objectives that YOU help them realize?

Photo credit: opensourceway viaFoter.com / CC BY-SA

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Disneyland Express Fires Up My Imagination

I’m on the Disneyland Express, heading there for the time of my life! It is like a train that has a mind of its own with its engine pulling me along for the ride. I’ve been called a big kid many times and yet, this is a whole level of excitement that I haven’t experienced for a long time. I totally get why it’s so hard for kids to concentrate on the day-to-day stuff when there is a big exciting event coming around the corner. Because that is exactly where I am!

But I need to get some stuff done before I leave so it’s all about creating focus and attention. So, realizing that the teacher needs to make use of what she knows, I’ve been doing what I’ve taught elementary school teachers and parents and kids.

Tools To Use When Excitement Wants to Take Over

Here are some of the tools that have helped me and will help your kids, no matter what exciting adventure is being planned. AND it will even help them get in the mode for returning to school. That in and of itself can be an adventure!

Do the Daily Clean Your House Flow. It helps create the foundation for easy and effortless “being in the flow”.
For an extra boost of clarity and focus, with right hand cup the back of the head so fingers are on the left base of skull. And with left hand cup the forehead.
Discover how easy it is to balance emotions and feelings by simply doing the Jumper Cables. Hold each thumb and finger for several good breaths. By the way, holding the middle fingers helps let go of frustration and anger! And holding the thumbs helps decrease worry and anxiety.

And consider checking out the animated video of the Daily Clean Your House Flow. It’s a fun way for teachers to make a difference in the classroom and for parents to see how much smoother family life can be.

Wishing you LOTS of adventures for 2016 for you and your kids!

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Colossal Disneyland Excitement Makes it Hard to Sleep

Yep! I’m a kid at heart and that has been totally apparent for the last several months as the departure for Disneyland has been getting closer and closer. Though we’re arriving late on the first day, I talked my kids into getting a park pass for that day because “Why on earth would you even want to miss the opportunity to start the enjoyment?” And, of course, we’re doing the Hopper Pass so we can go to both Disneyland and California Adventure.

For someone who has always loved amusement parks and has super clear memories of the last time at Disneyland (it’s only been twenty plus years!), I’m ready to see and do as much as possible. I’ve been asking everyone who has been there what rides and attractions absolutely must be experienced.

Thrill of Anticipation

Have YOU ever had the level of excitement in which you get all wrapped up in the pictures in your mind and the anticipation of the thrill of what you have planned? At this moment in time I totally get why it’s so hard for kids to concentrate on the day-to-day stuff when there is a big exciting event coming around the corner.

I’m pulling out the “energy tips” to get my brain engaged so I can get at least a few things done before I’m traipsing all over Disneyland.

Here’s What I’ve Been Doing To Create Productive Space

Since it’s the beginning of a new year, it’s especially important to be “doing the steps” to meet my objectives and goals. If you want to get more out of your days, here are the flows I use:

Starting the day doing the Daily Clean Your House Flow. It helps create a solid foundation for the day.
Hold the mid-back near the kidneys, right hand on right side and left hand on left side. This creates space for “flow and manifesting”. Hold for several good breaths as you open up the energy and allow for new possibilities to come your way.
With the right hand, cup your sternum directly below the collarbone and with the left hand hold your fingers on your tummy. This will create energy movement that will bring in breath and ease and ability to “take in” all that does come your way. AND it will, because you’ve created the space that allows ALL to happen.

Wishing YOU all the excitement and joy of the New Year as you create and allow possibilities of transformation and expansion!

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I’m Truly a Kid at Heart!

I’m truly a kid at heart!

I saw Santa last week with some good friends and I know I had a really big smile on my face. I was right back at that place of total excitement that Santa was coming to town. As a kid growing up in a very small town in Minnesota (population 500), it was a big occasion with lots of planning and hype about the event. And, of course, sitting on his lap and telling him what I wanted for Christmas was a super big deal.

So, this year I didn’t tell him what I wanted when I sat next to him on his sleigh. Instead, I told him “thank you” for creating so many happy smiling people, both children and adults. He was the ultimate Santa — red and white suit, white beard, twinkling eyes, nose like a cherry, and a big smile in the midst of those rosy cheeks.

I felt like I was a character in ’Twas the Night Before Christmas and I found myself laughing in spite of myself as I watched him being Santa.

He and Mrs. Claus have created the ultimate Christmas Winter Wonderland. The outside is beautiful with all of the lights and decorations and the sleigh that he pops in and out of. But what is different from any other decorated house in any other neighborhood — they open their door to thousands of visitors every year. The entire house is filled with Christmas music and some of the most beautiful displays I’ve ever seen — Santas, villages, snowmen, a holiday train, a carnival, a whole room of angels.

Edmundo, Mary Jo and Kathy start decorating in September to prepare their Christmas House. And they do it because they love to create magic and see the smiles and hear the laughter. Last year they had 44,700 visitors. How do they know? They handed out 44,700 candy canes.

Most of us aren’t going to go to that extent to bring the magic of the season into our homes and neighborhoods, but we can create the energy of joy by just being in the space of happiness and love.

Ready to see the Rombeiro’s Christmas House and get filled with magic? Their address is 34 Devonshire Drive, Novato, CA . They’re open every night through January 6^th, including 12/24, 12/25, 12/31 and 1/1/2016. And every single night Santa will turn on all of the lights at 6:00 pm, walk out to his sleigh and greet his visitors. Kathy waits at the front door, welcoming each and every one who walks through the door. Mary Jo (Mrs. Claus) waits in the kitchen to see the smiles and have short conversations with those who just want to say thank you.

Yep. This Santa and his family are remarkable. They share the joy of the season and you can’t help but accept their gift. I hope you and your family have found ways to experience the magic of the season!

Joy and Magic

And remember — each of your family members can have balance and harmony by spending time every day doing self-help acupressure. You will find it much easier to have everything on the list done, to be rested, and to see smiles on each and every face. Keep it simple. Do the Daily Clean Your House Flow and remember to Jumper Cable as often as you think of it.

Sending you lots of balancing energy!

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Practicing to be Santa!

The act of giving is a big one for children to discover. It truly can become an art — but to get to that point we have to do a lot of practicing. It’s like practicing to be Santa!

Artful Giving

When you were a child do you remember ever having that moment when you were supposed to give someone else a gift that you really wanted to keep for yourself? That was a big one — to go through that experience and then to realize that once we got over the trauma and drama, we really could feel good about it. It was the memory of the “feeling good” that created the space for more of the same to occur. And from there, the pattern of artful giving was shaped.

Experiencing Joy in our Bodies

The journey to feeling good and experiencing joy is one that is super important. All parts of our bodies (physical, mental, and emotional) want to be happy and be in a place of energetic balance and harmony. A body that is in balance doesn’t have to work so hard to not have unhappiness or stress or anxiety. It just more easily moves to that place — without effort!

Once the pattern for “feeling good” is part of our make-up, the body will find ways to be there — including that place of “giving just because it feels good.” And, let’s face it — this is the time of year to feel really good about giving because it’s such a big part of the holiday season.

To help your children more easily discover that “I want to give” mode and be like Santa, try these energy tips:

Gently cup middle fingers to help let go of frustration. (Helps let go of frustration, including any that is about giving when “I don’t want to”).
Hold upper arms by folding arms across the chest. (Helps bring in breath which will let go of any anxiety. Anxiety can come from being uncomfortable with what is happening which will cause breath holding).
Hold right fingers at area of heart and hold left fingers at base of ribcage. (Helps connect feelings of happiness and love with breath).
Hold right fingers on left cheek and hold left fingers below left collarbone. (Helps with ability to fully express feelings, thoughts, words).

Doing the Daily Clean Your House Flow on a daily basis can go a long way to helping your children be happy and healthy. That will create a firm foundation. The extra energy tips create even more “letting go and finding balance.”

Enjoy the season! And have fun giving and being Santa!

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My Gift of Energy Tips for You!

My gift of energy tips for you!

Prepping for the Holidays

Prepping for the holidays is all about finding the time to do all you want to do! Maybe there’s some “I should do this” in the mix, but let’s just see how we can make it more manageable.

Your list can be pretty extensive: making the shopping list (we’re talking the gifts you’ve decided on), the shopping itself (usually requires multiple trips out), decorating, the clean-up that follows, wrapping gifts, baking, planning your own entertaining (definitely lots of steps involved including the food preparation on the day of your event), making time for all of the events you want to attend (don’t forget to make your reservations and get your tickets), getting those wrapped gifts delivered (either personal delivery or setting up shipment). Okay — I bet there are more than a few things that I’ve forgotten.

Are You Tired Yet?

You don’t have to be. In fact you can be totally with it and ready for the next thing on the list. And you can feel that you have it handled, with no built-up stress and anxiety about anything you have planned and still need to do.

The key is to have clarity and focus, energy to do what you want to do, and feeling rested for next “thing to do.” Here are easy-to-do energy tips to help you feel great about your holiday and all of your plans.

Holiday Energy Tips

Start each day with the Daily Clean Your House Flow
Consider doing the Daily Flow in the middle of the day to give you an extra boost.
When you feel “out of sync” or “I’ve lost my juice” do this to help you get centered and grounded and to feel revitalized:
With one hand: cup your sternum under your collarbone
With the other hand: hold fingers on your tummy
If you feel “out of breath” or feel “anxious about the crazy list I’ve created” do this to create breath and feel empowered:
Hold your upper arms by folding arms across your chest
Or gently cup your thumbs (let’s go of worry)
If you feel unsure and unclear of the plan and have lost track:
With one hand: cup your forehead
With the other hand: cup the base of your skull
To get a really good night’s sleep (and in the middle of the day, to feel like you actually took a nap)!:
Place fingers on right and left base of skull
Jumper Cable! Gently cup each thumb and finger for several good breaths.

Holiday Momentum

Okay! I hope you feel more prepared for your holiday season and for all that you want to create!

Mine is going forward with full steam ahead momentum! I love this time of year and I love being fully engaged with each and every part of my list. In fact, the list is “just there” and the time somehow appears for the items to be taken care of. As you can see, decorating my tree is an important item on my list. And the rest of the house reflects my love of “decking my halls!”

I wish each and every one of you a magnificent holiday season!

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Gratitude is an Attitude

Yep! I’m a lucky girl. I’m healing from that accident of one month ago though I’m often hurting and needing to watch what I do. Exercising is pretty much out of the picture — at least for right now. Mild stretching is about the extent of what my body will let me do. My garden beckons me but luckily it’s time to prepare it for winter, and I can hand the clean-up to someone else. Decorating for Christmas? I’ll just have to see what can actually get done. Time will tell.

My Healing Journey

I feel so blessed that my treatment plan is helping me get beyond the injuries and even more blessed that I have the healing team I do. They literally have my back. And all of that self-help acupressure I do is getting me through the days and helping me sleep at night. I can feel how the energy flows help me prepare my body for what I’m going to ask it to do and prepare it for what might come at it. I’m getting more out of each appointment I receive, whether it’s acupuncture, physical therapy, massage or chiropractic. I will get on the other side of this thing called “the accident.”

Creating Positive Energy

Yep. I’m in gratitude. And I know that my gratitude will bring more good things my way because positive energy draws more of the same towards it. Positive energy occurs when there is balance and harmony which naturally happens in our bodies when we help the energy flow.

So do your daily energy work! Start with the Daily Clean Your House Flow to give your body a firm foundation. Then do the following to bring even more good things your way:

Right hand – hold fingers on right mid back
Left hand – hold fingers on left mid back
Right hand – hold fingers on left base of ribcage
Right hand – cup sternum directly below collarbone
Left hand – hold fingers in a vertical pattern on tummy

The Attitude of Gratitude

When we’re in a space of gratitude we have an attitude that is all about contentment. We’re contented with what we have in our life, what we’re experiencing and how good and happy we feel. That attitude draws more good into our lives that allows more gratitude. That is a beautiful cycle to create and make sure continues! And another huge benefit — there’s not much space to experience stress. Each day has more and more room to just be.

Wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

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Ensuring Student Success

Thanks to our School Professionals!!!

There are so many people who play a part in ensuring the success of students. American Education Week is a dedicated time to recognize all those professionals who touch the lives of our children: teachers, administrators, counselors, office staff, food service employees, health care employees, safety officers, custodial and maintenance employees.

Each and every one of them help keep schools running and students safe, healthy and ready to learn. Student achievement is a reality when they receive quality education. Without all of these professionals we would not have a school environment that creates the space for education to be a journey in discovery.

Good Memories of School

Do you have memories of school being fun, engaging, beneficial, and worthwhile and that you wanted to be there? I’m lucky to say those qualities are what I experienced when I was a young student, and that it was primarily the adults who were on the school campus who brought that to fruition. They fostered my desire to study and learn, and to have fun doing so.

Creating Success for Our Kids

Maybe its those memories that brought me to the place of wanting to create a program that allows teachers to have classrooms that are calmer and more productive, to have students who aren’t anxious and stressed and have more clarity and focus. However I got there, I am passionate about bringing the possibility of that environment to our schools. My animated video of a self-help acupressure flow is helping teachers and parents create a balanced calm space — at school and at home.

Check out the first 90 seconds of the six minute video called the Daily Clean Your House Flow. Teachers and parents are saying, “This makes a huge difference at school and at home.” And kids are saying, “Everything is easier.” Studying, doing homework, taking tests, sports, music – kids are having more success in all they do. And they’re having fun learning an easy way to get there!

And that’s what they should experience! Life should be filled with successful moments that give them the inclination to keep on being involved, trying, learning and stepping into their potential. I love hearing kids telling me the good things, the happy moments, the “I like being in school,” and “my teacher is the best,” and “I’m doing better.”

And I know that teachers and school staff feel the very same way. Otherwise they wouldn’t be doing what they do – helping children step into being the best they can be. Thanks to ALL of you who are there every day for your students!

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