It was late October when I moved to Michigan from Alaska 16 years ago. The day I met my new neighbor, he enthusiastically told me some of the reasons he loved Michigan. It was reassuring, as a mom with three young kids, to hear the positive things he had to say about growing up here, but I had to admit that I was probably most excited about living in a place that has four seasons. I said that as much as I loved living in Alaska, the long winters were challenging for me—cold winters when some days the sun would rise after 10 a.m. and set before 4 p.m. I did not mention how much my mood was affected by the scarcity of light, but when I noted that I looked forward to having more sunlight during the winter, he laughed and responded with something like, “I don’t know if you know this, but even though we don’t have the same extreme when it comes to sun up and down, the sky can be gray pretty much all winter.”
Posts filed under Personal Growth
A Singer, a Song, and Memories
I first heard Steve Goodman’s song, “The City of New Orleans” over fifty years ago. I remember seeing him sing it at the Mariposa Folk Festival sometime in the mid 1970s, but I heard Arlo Guthrie’s much better-known version even earlier. I thought it was a terrific song, but I felt no special pull to learn it. I continued to come across it occasionally over the years, especially in the mid ‘80s after Willie Nelson’s version came out, and always felt the same about it.
Out of My Comfort Zone: An Inside Journey
Here’s the thing I’ve noticed about stepping out of your comfort zone: The more resistance you feel about doing the uncomfortable thing, the more learning and transformation you’ll experience when you do it.
By definition, everything on the above list fell outside of my comfort zone, and nothing on this list catalyzed resistance like healing chronic illness. Healing has been the ultimate adventure out of my comfort zone.
Book Review: Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari
In an age characterized by ceaseless distractions and a relentless assault on our attention spans, Johann Hari’s thought-provoking work, Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again, emerges as a timely and illuminating exploration of the modern cognitive landscape. In a world where the stimulating call of smartphones, social media, and constant connectivity beckons incessantly, Hari navigates the turbulent seas of our digital age with insight and personal resonance. The narrative provides astute observations, practical wisdom, and the hope that we can reclaim the ability to think deeply and engage meaningfully in our world.
The Role of Our Autobiography in Our Present and Future Life
Our past deeply impacts our present. Our childhood experiences have a huge impact on how we view the world today. We are deeply influenced, for better or worse, by the dynamics in our family, our religious upbringing, our cultural experiences, any bullying or trauma we endured, and the list goes on. All of these experiences are part of our autobiography and influence how we behave, think, and feel. In addition, how we experience life today, will impact how we experience life tomorrow.
Hedgewitching
In high school, I’d been set free to take French classes at the university. Waiting in the library to be picked up, I wandered and read. On a physical level I was hungry for more than stories. I didn’t eat much breakfast and found the atmosphere at school non-conducive to lunch. Like many students locked into what seemed an alien rhythm, I existed in a tattered state.
Out of My Comfort Zone: Answering the Call to Rest
At the beginning of this year, I did what many of us do when preparing for another trip around the sun. I set about visioning, but also taking real stock and looking at the reality of the health of my enterprises, my finances, and my body. My approach to the known challenges, I decided, was to bring in freshness of perspective, make some pivots, and then put my head down and work it. My retail business and its educational programming are currently at a critical juncture, and they really needed my undivided attention and energy. Therefore, plans for personal development (i.e, retreats, trainings, coaching), travel, or casual socializing were put on hold. I felt good about this plan. I love my work. I want my business to thrive, and I needed a big turnaround in terms of finances. So, I grabbed my oar. However, a naughty word kept creeping into my thoughts…Sabbatical.*
Book Review: A Lantern in the Dark: Navigate Life’s Crossroads with Story, Ritual, and Sacred Astrology
Danielle Blackwood meets readers at life’s crossroads–a space of “betwixt and between”–where she guides and inspires through story, ritual, and sacred astrology. Infused with myth, folklore, and the hidden wisdom in stories, A Lantern in the Dark, provides insights to readers of varying ages and stages of life while they stand at a juncture often riddled with confusion, dilemma, and restlessness.
Out of My Comfort Zone: Sometimes I Fall: The Discomfort of Asking
In response to your kind inquiry, ‘Would you be interested in writing?,’ right off the bat, I’ve been transported a few miles, to the outskirts of the town of Discomfort. I stare at its welcome sign. Founded: at the beginning of human time. Population: countless.
A Minute to Meditate: Laughter as Self-Care
As busy moms, it’s acceptable to want more time, more help, more space, and the list goes on. An important element to add to your list of more, is self-care. I am reminded of a safety instruction given by flight attendants, once you board a plane, "In the event of an emergency secure yourself, then assist your child." I’m paraphrasing that statement, but the idea is that in order to help someone else, you must be well.
Out of My Comfort Zone: Stretching Out of My Comfort Zone
Generally speaking, my comfort zone is not small. I have lived in foreign countries, trekked in the Himalayas, paraglided off a 5,000 foot cliff, flown in teeny tiny planes over the Amazon rain forest, stood on my head on various mountain tops, and held a giant anaconda around my neck (that one was mostly for the photo op). But when asked to write an article about stepping out of my comfort zone, I immediately knew what I’d share. And it turns out I am not alone in this fear. In fact, it comes in at number two on the list of people’s biggest fears. It is of course, the fear of public speaking (in case you’re interested, fear of death is number one on the list).
How Humor Helps Me Over a Hurdle
I’m working once again to lose my post-pregnancy weight…it’s been 25 years since the baby. There have been peaks and valleys, fitness regimens and meal plans. Just when I thought I had things under control, menopause slapped me in the face. I hit a plateau. A brick wall. A stand-off.
Book Review: An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us
Many books praise the natural world, but none quite like Ed Yong does in his book An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us. He takes readers on a journey into the sensory bubble in which we live, examining the nuances between each creature’s unique perception.
Finding Myself Through Human Design
On New Year’s Eve 2020, I was feeling a lot of pressure about choosing a career path. The pressure came from my partner of six years, Jake. He was frustrated that I could not just choose a career and stick with it. He couldn’t understand that I no longer wanted to work a traditional job and felt burnt out. I felt like I was living in the movie Groundhog’s Day. No matter where I worked, I always found myself in the same situation. Either the boss would not understand me and become angry or frustrated, or if it was not the boss, it would be a co-worker. Every traditional job I had seemed to chew me up and spit me out. I would find myself in a pattern of staying for about two years before the environment became toxic, and I would hop to the next job. I never understood why this would happen. I was a hard worker, friendly, and did my best, but it did not matter. I was stuck in the same cycle.
Beautiful Ways
I was raised in rural Colorado and on the Navajo Nation reservation in Arizona, in what is known as The Four Corners region. On a map, this area appears as a cross where four right angles meet to join Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. This is the original home of several Native American groups, including the Navajo people, also known by their preferred name of Dine’ (dih-neh), meaning “The People.” I feel fortunate to have been immersed in such a unique culture, and I often reflect on the experiences that taught me some valuable life lessons.
Out of My Comfort Zone: Dare to Be with Lauren Crane
I look at a comfort zone like a backyard garden. Plant seeds—let’s say tomato—in rich soil and they’ll grow in fat and juicy abundance. Really cool, you say, this will be my tomato patch forevermore. Not so fast. If you keep planting the same crop in the same plot season after season, you’ll deplete the soil and, sadly, your bushel basket will be bare. But throw in parsnips the next year, plug in peas the year after that, and you’ll keep the soil balanced and fertile, ready for the next good thing. I’ll stop pretending that I have a green thumb and get to the point of this metaphor.
Out of My Comfort Zone: Discomfort Zone
This assignment stumped me at first. To begin with, dear Crazy Wisdom, which self are you hoping to hear from? Me as singer, music facilitator, filmmaker, spiritual practitioner, business owner, or merely human being?
Are You Sabotaging Your Self-Care?
By Christy DeBurton
What comes to mind when you think of the term ‘self-care?’ Many people think self-care involves a lot of time or money. Others believe that self-care is selfish. These ideas are completely false. Simply put, self-care is essential for you to be the best version of yourself. It isn’t about getting weekly massages or taking candle-lit bubble baths (though these can be part of it if you choose). It isn’t about neglecting your responsibilities or ignoring the needs of others. The real essence of self-care is being true to who you are, so you are living the life that you want to live, and not the life other people want you to live. It’s about making choices from a place of love and connection rather than guilt and obligation. But that love has to start with loving yourself first—and not all of us are so good at doing that—so we end up sabotaging our self-care. A while back, I went on my own self-care journey, examining the obstacles that were getting in the way of taking better care of myself. Here are some things I learned along the way.
Give yourself permission to take time for self-care. Let’s face it, no one else will. We all want someone else to say to us, “You’ve been working so hard. You’ve been under a lot of stress. Why don’t you take the day off and just relax?” Most likely, this is never going to happen. Even if you do have someone like this in your life, ultimately you have to be the one who gives yourself permission to take time for self-care. So why do we have such a hard time doing this? Because we’ve been raised in a society that tells us we always need to be more, do more, and have more. Because we’ve been raised in families that pass down conscious and subconscious beliefs that we are not worthy, that we don’t deserve what we really desire, and that we need to take care of other people’s needs before our own. Take a moment to examine this in your own life. Do you feel obligated by certain people to do things that you really don’t want to do? Do you tell yourself you don’t have time for self-care because you just don’t feel like you deserve to take time for yourself? Or are you worried about what other people will think if you do? What kinds of messages are you telling yourself about your worthiness as a human being? Examining those conscious and subconscious beliefs is the first step. Once you’ve done that, try putting into practice either or both of these helpful techniques:
“Who says so?” Any time you catch yourself thinking that you don’t have time to relax or do yoga or some other form of self-care because you have to check off one more thing on your never-ending to-do list, question that ‘voice in your head’ by asking yourself, “Who says so?” I guarantee you will be amazed at what other voices besides your own (maybe it’s the voice of perfection, or guilt, or your mother!) you are listening to. Is listening to those voices in your best interest? What if you listened to your own voice instead? Once you’ve asked yourself this question, or separately on their own, you could ask the following two questions.
“How do I feel right now?” and “What do I need to do to take care of myself?” In my work with clients, I have come to realize that most people are not good at checking in with themselves to see how they’re feeling throughout the day. We can’t take better care of ourselves unless we take the time to contemplate how we’re feeling and what we need. Getting into the habit of asking myself these two questions has made a huge difference in my life, and I am confident it can in yours, too. I encourage you to write these questions on some sticky notes and put them in places where you’ll see them—like on your bathroom mirror, work desk, or car dashboard—throughout the day. Then, every time you see them, take a moment to pause and ask yourself how you’re feeling and what you need to do to take care of yourself. The trick is that you need to pause long enough to really ‘hear’ the answers, and then go do what you need—without apology!
I had to work at it for quite a while to get to the point where I felt comfortable making time for self-care every day, so let me be the first to say it won’t be easy. You’ll most likely get resistance from those close to you who have certain expectations. But those who truly love you and want what is best for you will understand. And those who give you a hard time? You might want to examine why you want people like that in your life.
Because I benefited so greatly from taking my own self-care journey and learning to implement techniques like the ones above, I created a compact but powerful online course, Stop Sabotaging Your Self-Care, to help others who are ready to make self-care a priority. In this course I guide you on a journey of self-discovery to examine the obstacles that stand in the way of you taking better care of yourself and teach you tools like the ones above to help you cultivate greater awareness around your self-care needs. I’ve included thought-provoking exercises, journal prompts, weekly meditation and yoga practices, and more. You can find out more about this course at yogaroomannarbor.com/online-courses-self-care.
Finally, because I found it helpful to have some supportive people tell me that I did, in fact, deserve to make time for my own self-care, let me pass that support on to you. The world needs your gifts. But you will only be able to shine if you take good care of yourself first. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate: even taking a 15 minute walk every day can make a world of difference. I promise if you do, you will feel so much better and those around you will also receive the benefits of your new-found sense of well-being, too. You absolutely deserve it, so give yourself some time for self-care today.
Christy DeBurton is a Holistic Yoga and Wellness Educator with 25 years of experience. She helps people feel better inside and out through yoga, meditation, wellness retreats, online courses, and more. She can be reached at info@christydeburton.com.
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The bright service-blue sign simply stating “labyrinth” caught my attention as I was driving by St. Barnabus in Chelsea, MI. It was on my literal path, thus destined to be part of my journey that day. Suffice it to say at the start of our walk together in this article, when I stood at the entrance of this 11 circuit, 40 foot labyrinth, I felt a mystical buzz. I was about to embark on a new spiritual entry point.
Amy Garber — Promoting Holistic and Psychic Realms for a Quarter of a Century
The Ann Arbor Holistic Psychic Fair became the largest of its type in Michigan as it gave a common arena for holistic practitioners and psychic intuitives to assemble in a mutually respected village for one or two days. Many of the practitioners highlighted in Crazy Wisdom articles have had booths, done readings, or attended informative lectures through these fairs.
As busy moms, it’s acceptable to want more time, more help, more space, and the list goes on. An important element to add to your list of more, is self-care. I am reminded of a safety instruction given by flight attendants, once you board a plane, "In the event of an emergency secure yourself, then assist your child." I’m paraphrasing that statement, but the idea is that in order to help someone else, you must be well.