F*ck the Scale - Do not let numbers define you!

Learning to love our bodies at any stage is a process, but an extremely rewarding one! Don't let the number on the scale, clothing size or body fat % define who you are! Love yourself now, and you'll begin to see amazing changes both mentally and physically!

Are you sick of your own BS?! Then it's time to change!

Change can be very scary - but it can also be the most liberating, rewarding thing you can do for yourself! The only thing that holds us back is our thought about change. If we feel it's impossible, if we choose fear over faith, then we stay stuck in the same situations we are miserable in! Living the same nightmare scenario over and over! No thank you! Believe you can and trust me - you will!

Love vs Fear - which will you choose in response to the terrible events ...

The tragedy in Orlando has affected us all in different ways. Many from a place of love, and some from a place of fear. As we continue to heal as a society we need to be conscious about what we put out into the world. I am a HUGE supporter of the LGBT community, and I mourn deeply with them and their loved ones, as I would with anyone who endured this kind of hate. Please choose love, especially in times like this. We need to be the change in this world.

Do you Love yourself, or just respect yourself?

Do you continue to attract negative people and negative situations into your life and can't figure out why? I will give you some quick advice as to how to gauge if you are radiating from a place of love, or a place of self doubt.

Body Shaming, Online Bullying and Self Love

Online bullying, body shaming and the most recent events around #istandwithjoey. What is our obligation on social media? How do we impact others with our word?

Learning to Love Yourself!

Learning to truly love yourself is the most rewarding experience you can have. I spent 41 years transforming into who I am today, and I want to spend the next 41 helping others be just as happy! It doesn't happen overnight, but it does happen! I am proof that with hard work and positive thinking you can transform yourself and your life!

What would you give for one last goodbye?

My goal as a writer is to be able to tell people my story, with transparency and humor, in hopes that my experiences and challenges help them with their struggles. Today I am not able to add humor in my story, but my message is the same. Today I found out that my cousin, who would have been 41 June 16th, ended his life.

Suicide is not new to my family. When I was 18 years old my grandfather killed himself. I remember every detail of that day, what I was doing, where I was sitting when the call came in, and what the message was. See, my grandfather had always suffered from depression. He was in and out of mental institutions, and always struggled to fit into this world. I never quite knew why as a child, in fact, I was somewhat embarrassed by him. When he died, the paper said he suffered from an illness, a story I kept going due to the fear of ridicule and shame. Over the years that veil lifted, and my shame turned to understanding. My grandfather was a brilliant man! He was a chemist and enigineer for Uniroyal, helped the local police with investigations, made inventions and on quiet mornings - picked raspberries with his grandchildren. One of whom was my cousin Jeff. He would work with wood, making bird houses and numbers for people to display on their homes. As I evolved in my own life, I knew he was more than all that. He was an empath, and because of that, he felt too deeply. Being an empath myself, I understand what a burden that can be. He was religious, and went to church regularly, so upon hearing what happened, I knew he was where he wanted to be.

It took several years for me to admit to anyone that he committed suicide. Now, I speak of him proudly. I am an advocate for suicide prevention and depression, as I too suffer from it. I am not ashamed of who I am, but rather, am open so that others feel safe and find comfort knowing I understand. People who commit suicide are not selfish, they are lost. They are not weak, they are tired. The stigmatism around suicide is placed there by those who have never been affected, or who have been but choose to use anger as a method of healing. We need to open our hearts, through compassion and empathy, and reach out to help one another. 

If I end with anything it is this, please love one another. Life is too short to hold on to grudges, or shame, or guilt. If you suffer from depression and are feeling suicidal, please reach out to someone. I know often times it feels like the last thing to do, but believe me, the world needs you. 

To my cousin Jeff, you will be missed. I will always remember the sweet smile of the cousin I spent endless days with, running around grandma and grandpa's yard, picking berries, sliding down the hill in the snow and playing Voltron. You always have and always will hold a special place in my heart. I love you. 

Love and Light - 

Jenn

*****If you are feeling suicidal - please reach out - you are not alone!

http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

If you believe you can fly - then you can Pan! Tink happy thoughts!

One of my favorite movies of all time is "Hook". It's the story (staring the late, great Robin Williams), about a man who has grown up into an adult named Jack, forgetting he is actually Peter Pan. As a child growing up, my father would pretend he was Peter Pan. Every time my mother would hand me the phone I would ask (in my unbelievably adorable mini-me voice), "who is this?" The answer back would always be - "It's Peter Pan!" So you can only imagine what a teary mess I become when the time comes in the movie where Jack's children realize Peter Pan is their dad! Enter hot mess here!

During my dreaded cardio session this morning, I had one of my famous 'elliptical epiphanies' - we are ALL Peter Pan (no disrespect dad - love you)! Once upon a time there was a child, who believed in a dream. As that child grew older, life developed, experiences happened and new belief systems formed. We went from believing we could fly, to stressing over how we can afford the plane ticket. As children we had unwavering faith. To this day I am still convinced my dad is Peter Pan, no matter what anyone else tells me!

In the movie, Robin William's character Jack forgets he is Peter Pan. He was too busy growing up! He had a family, responsibility, children and UGH - bills to pay! His Nemesis kidnaps his children, forcing Jack to go back to Neverland. It is there he begins to realize (with the help of Tink of course), who he REALLY is. Often times some tragic incident, heartbreak, loss etc., causes us to step back, re-evaluate our lives, and ask ourselves "am I being true to who I really am?" "At what point did I give up my dream? At what point did I stop believing"

In the movie Jack struggles with his identity because he doesn't BELIEVE. His logic about what 'should be' has overshadowed the once innocent mind that believed "EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE!" Does that remind you of anyone? For me, it has taken several recent events to realize that I let go of a dream that burned so deeply in my soul, it could set the world on fire! I lost my way, thinking I wasn't strong enough, or smart enough, or good enough to have my dream even though my inner guru (I call her Swami Jenn) kept telling me that wasn't true. I didn't believe, I lost faith. I could no longer fly.

I'm not sure when that moment came where I decided to choose unwavering faith over fear, but it did, and I have been on fire since. I equate it to the moment one of the Lost Boys looks at Peter and says "Oh - there you are Peter!" No matter how differently I did my hair, the changes in the lines around my eyes, or the different outfits I wore etc., when I looked in the mirror - I saw the girl with the dream. "There you are!"

Like Peter, we need our one Happy Thought! Peter couldn't fly without his, and neither can you. But once that thought is found, and that belief sets in, your feet will never touch the ground the same way again. Always believe in who you are! Never give up your dream! It is never to late to start living the life you love and the life you deserve - you just have to BELIEVE!

The Law of Attraction states that our thoughts create our outcome! Like attracts like. Per Wikipedia - "This belief is based upon the idea that people and their thoughts are both made from "pure energy", and the belief that like energy attracts like energy."

So that being said.....

What is your happy thought? What causes your soul to be on fire? What makes every hair on your arms stand up?

All you have to do is believe!

Love and Light,

Jenn
www.yogabyjenn.com



This blog is dedicated to my sister Lisa - I love you - never stop believing! <3

Are you living a life of purpose? Lift and you shall receive!

Every morning I get up at 4:15ish, most of the the time it is from my alarm going off, other times it's because one of my cats strategically prances across my bladder, kindly telling me it's time to get up and go feed them. So after a few moments of trying to recover from the "loving" pain educed by my cats, I wipe the crust out of my eyes, and proceed to make my way down to the kitchen and begin to prep myself to go to the gym.

My usual routine is to show up at the gym by 5, wave to everyone as if I were the prom queen on a Memorial Day Parade float, and make my way over to whatever machine I am doing that day. During this time I jam to my music, and begin to lift heavy shit! Well, this has been MOST days at least. Lately I have been inspired by the many crazy events that have been happening in my life, and instead of dancing to Sisqo's "Thong Song", I find myself jotting down notes in between sets on my iPhone for use in my blog. My "money maker" thoughts, however, happen during my dreadful cardio sessions.

Ok, so I don't want to be OVERLY dramatic and call cardio dreadful, but anyone that has ever had to do over 30 mins while being calorie deprived knows what I'm preaching! I equate it to being as enjoyable as getting lost in a jungle, getting your foot caught in a bear trap, then having to free it by sawing it off with a sharpened tree branch you made with all your spare time sitting in agony. I get a LOT of my great ideas while on the elliptical. Now it could be because I feel like I'm dying and I'm having one of those "epiphanies" before I go and meet the great maker of the universe, but either way that is when happens, and I am grateful!

For those of you who don't know me, which is 99% of you unless I have shamelessly plugged my blog post on your Facebook wall, I have been going through quite the transformation lately. I have spent my life chasing a career and making money, because that's what my school books taught me to do. During these years of working my way to the top, I have been depressed, always feeling like a piece of myself was missing. I listened to the ideas of those around me, instead of my inner voice. See, we have the answers to ALL of life's questions, right there, inside of us. We don't realize this because we are so busy thinking about what  to make for dinner or why Janice didn't like our puppy video on Facebook, that we ignore the our "inner guru" poking us from the inside. What was it that I was missing (enter elliptical epiphany here)? A life with purpose!

Let me ask you, honestly, do you enjoy your life? Do you enjoy what you do? Did you want to be a rockstar but instead decided to be a barista at Starbucks because you felt that dream was out of reach? Would you be amazed if I told you the only person who thinks it is out of reach is you? We limit ourselves to the belief systems we have set up early in life. These usually involve beliefs passed down from our parents, who (even under the best of intentions) limited our thought process.

Do you think Michael Jordan wanted to be a professional hockey player but settled for a life as a basketball player instead? He learned what hard work was truly like when he was rejected from his Varsity team early in his basketball journey. Did he throw his hands up and say "ah forget this, I'm out?" No! He continued to work hard and went on to be one of, if not THE best, basketball players of all time. What was the secret to his success? He believed. He easily could have let fear cloud his judgement or let this one set-back derail him from his goal, but he didn't. He believed he could, and he achieved.

What stops us in life is not our circumstance, but our thoughts, which have CREATED that circumstance! Yup that's right, you did this to yourself! But here's the BEST part - are you ready?! You can write a new story! Crazy right?! How do I know? Because I am doing it! I have given up my corporate career to begin manifesting a life I love. A life that is filled with passion and purpose. Is it easy? Not always, I will be honest. But if I begin to doubt, for one second, then I put negativity into the universe and as the Law of Attraction states "What you ask for, you shall receive!" So I wake up every day with unwavering faith, and go to bed at night with gratitude for the days blessings.

What type are you living? Are you living a life with purpose? Do you find yourself depressed because you feel like you are "missing out" on life?

It's NEVER to late to re-write your story! Do something that sets your soul on fire, and the money will come! When you live with purpose you are aligned with the universe and as we know "what you ask for, you shall receive"!

Think it's too late?
Check out these "late bloomers" http://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/14-inspiring-people-who-found-crazy-success-later-in-life.html  

Remember - YOUR THOUGHTS CONTROL YOUR LIFE! Don't live in a fear based life, afraid of taking chances, just to wake up one day and regret time gone by. Believe you are capable of more. Go out and find your passion, live your dream! The only thing standing in the way - is you!

Love and Light -

Jenn
http://www.yogabyjenn.com/index.html

What is Emotional Evolution

Emotional Evolution is a term coined by yours truly, in an attempt to define my journey in this world. As someone with depression, who is also an empath, I am ruled by emotions. Oh my, how draining it is! Over the years I have studied not only myself and what makes me tick, but Emotional Intelligence as well. If you aren't familiar with Daniel Goleman's work - I highly recommend you start. He is the father of EQ (shorthand for Emotional Intelligence).
You can find his work here: http://www.danielgoleman.info/topics/emotional-intelligence/

But enough about Daniel (no offense buddy), but this post is all about me!  A while back I had the pleasure of going to a new PCP (we all know how much fun THAT is! Get weighed, check blood pressure, yada, yada, yada). During that visit he asked "If you had to pick one word that describes your life, what would it be?" Well, I could have said "sucky, depressing, complicated, dramatic, overwhelming, happy, exciting etc., or give some kind of half-ass adjective, just to get out of this conversation and get my visit over with, but instead I paused (for dramatic effect) and said "evolving". He looked at me, eyes wide open, with a ridiculous amount of excitement. You know, like the kind that I get when a amazingly hot guy with a great ass gets in front of me on the cardio machine (don't judge me)!  After containing himself over my brilliant one word answer he exclaimed "that is the best answer I have ever heard!" Well duh!

So this got me thinking. If I had to describe my emotional journey, how would I describe it? Well of course the answer would depend on the day and if I was having a mental break down at the point or not, but I would say evolving. We are not in control of what happens to us, but we are in control of how we react. Let that sink in. Don't roll your eyes at me, and stop huffing! Seriously, let that sink in. How do you react in situations that make you uncomfortable? For example, you're driving along and find the perfect rock-star parking, only to have some jackass pull in from out of nowhere, and take it! To make matters worse, it's during the Christmas rush, the only spot left is up in East Bumble F*ck, AND IT'S RAINING! Yeah, THAT kind reaction is what I'm talking about. We have all been there. We have all gone out of way to let said jackass know that he is well - a jackass! But honestly, where does that get us? We get all mightier than though cause that was OUR space, going off on him/her in the middle of the mall and looking like, well, you guessed it, A JACKASS! Learning Emotional Intelligence, i.e. - how to control our emotions, is key to being s semi-sane person in this ridiculously insane world!

This does not happen overnight. It's not one of those tummy wraps that you throw on and poof, insta-abs the next morning! Not so much! Oh and by the way if that DOES happen with the wrap, get your camera and Instagram that bitch cause you're going to get like THOUSANDS of likes! No, becoming aware of emotions before that moment of explosion, or breakdown takes time. We essentially need to re-wire our brain into new ways of thinking. The brain is an amazing organ, however, it can't be rational and emotional at the same time. Brain scans have actually found that these two modes are mutually exclusive. Awesome right? So now you see where I am going with this. We need to learn to control our emotions in order to become not only mentally, but physically healthier. This takes time, hence, enter the evolution part. Our job on this journey is to cultivate new habits that allow us to re-wire our brains.

One way to do this is through affirmations. I love these things, they are like icing on the cake of life. Cake is good, cake with icing, the BOMB! When I feel myself losing my shit I take a few deeps breaths (allowing my mind to stay rational), and say internally "I am in control of my emotions". Every affirmation should be in the present tense, allowing the universe to manifest what it is we are affirming. The universe will respond to the belief that you already HAVE these things, not WANT them. We will cover all that in a subsequent blog - don't worry (hey, I have to keep you coming back right)? Also, emotionally stable are more fun to be around! Really, who wants to be around someone who always complains, is snappy, unstable, negative etc.? Not this chick! I'm going to go party with the happy girl who'd rather go hug a stranger than snap at him/her cause they bumped into her.

So, how do you see yourself? Do you have EQ? Or you the type of person that feels OK being the jackass in the mall?

No judgements here (legit - this really IS a judgement free zone)!



Thank you for reading. Love and Light!

Jenn