kristina's corner

What would you say to your teenage self?


I had the opportunity to address teen-aged students at my high school alma mater yesterday.  Public speaking has ever presented a panic-inducing challenge for me, but after much self Reiki, breath practice, and positive encouragement from my peers, I quieted my nerves enough to go ahead.  First! As a leader! Four times! Whew...


I was put in the Life Journey panel- we were all presenting on how your life path is often winding. And difficult. And full of challenge. And how to try to integrate the negative and learn from it to create positive outcomes.  And ironically (correct usage?) one of our panelists couldn't make it unexpectedly leaving us with only two people to cover forty minutes in one of the presentations.  (We had been told to prepare for five minute presentations.)  As an excellent example of turning a seeming negative into a positive, I turned one of my talking points into a group exercise and my co-presenter and I got out into the group and mingled. At the end we had the best question and answer period our group had all day.  We actually had students rushing up to us at the end to ask us more.


I was completely unprepared for this.


One of the students asked how to handle a downturn if it was "particularly bad." I hope I answered sufficiently well, and I may ask the guidance counselor to follow up, but my head has been spinning ever since with more ! better ! answers to his question.  I don't think I'm going to be able to stop thinking about it until I write it all down.  So, my next little mental project is going to be writing "Letters to my Teenage Self." (I hope its not already taken.) 


What's the first thing?  Perhaps, there will be joy.


I would love to hear your advice to your teenage self.

news + promos

We have pretty big news this month.  After a year of operating on both sides of the river, we plan to re-consolidate back to our original Carytown location as of May 1, 2011.  We love our little Bon Air studio, but the vast majority of you prefer the Carytown studio.  Thank you to all of you who ventured to the South Side-- we hope you will continue to visit us at our original home!

quick tip - letting go

We all accumulate injuries over time to our emotional make up.  As they build up they can lead to increasing malaise and can sometimes manifest into physical problems.  I find that working to let go and forgive makes a huge positive difference in my emotional well-being and my overall well-being.


I've been working with Mimi, a life coach and spiritual coach with GraceMoves, and she has passed along some great ideas on moving forward.  Journaling, of course, is a tried-and-true method of venting the negative out.  If you have a particular person with whom you have negative energy, writing a letter to them and destroying it, or at least not sending it, can help get things moving.  Or, simply, having a conversation "with" them when they are not actually there.


Meditation is a great tool for grounding and centering and leading a balanced life.  I have to admit to being pretty terrible at meditation, but even at my level, I still get a benefit from it.  Reiki is also a great tool for surfacing energies that need to be released and rebalanced.  And even organizing and Feng Shui'ing your physical environment can have a positive impact.

Mimi and I have started putting our heads together to develop an integrated program to help those on a healing journey.  Stay tuned for details! 


The first step, however, is realizing that there is something that needs to be let go.  Then you can start on the path towards healing and integration.