Eye on the Prize

Keeping our eyes on the prize

I talk a great deal about balance, self-care, and boundaries in my psychotherapy and coaching practices. If I remember correctly one of my very first blogs was actually about how to achieve and maintain balance. I want to get really transparent with you for a few minutes. I “took my eyes of the prize” for a few minutes which is more like a few months ago. Traditionally October is a challenging month for us because we do weekend (three days) trainings a week a part from each other. This year, as October began creeping closer and closer I felt that old familiar sensation kick in…. FEAR. I am sure I don’t have to describe the fear to you but it would say things such as, “You NEED MONEY!”, “You can’t just take this time off”, or “You have to see your specialist this month you don’t even know how much that will cost!!” Instead of working my magnificent manifesting skills, this is where I began to drop the ball. Instead of putting my faith into anything bigger than myself, I took the control back. I stopped doing any consistent or regular manifesting, I stopped meditating, my self-hypnosis consisted of being focused on getting sleep, and my EFT practice became something I merely thought about. This is NOT practicing what I preach! It took about two months for all of this to catch up to me however.

I remember very vividly the conversation my husband and I had nearly two years ago about my health and the hours I am working. We were on our way back from seeing my Lyme specialist and he told me point blank that he wanted me to focus more on my health and healing and less on my practice, clients, and money. I took every word of that conversation very literal. But if I showed you my calendar for the last two months you would see that I took my eyes off the prize. I began working 12 or 15 hour days, and those days added together to be long weeks (versus long days). And I was able to do it! I was squeezing in acupuncture in between clients, I received an amazing massage, I was sleeping the best of my life…..but I had seriously taken my eyes off the prize. In another conversation with my husband we both talked about how work had become our priority and this is not what we wanted. We agreed on dates to scale back our hours. I agreed to not work past 6pm starting November 1st. My husband agreed to only one or two late nights beginning January first. November 1st came and went and I continued making excuses for why I needed to work so late. And then the hives began… I would just wear something longer sleeved so that they didn’t interrupt my day.

It wasn’t until last week when I woke up on Monday morning with a horrible case of pneumonia that the reality of how much I had taken my eyes off the prize began to set it. I’m a huge proponent of supporting and honoring our bodies! And yet I was pushing and pushing and pushing my body! I spent most of last week at home in bed sleeping and working on healing. I don’t regret anything that happened because it’s such a healthy and timely reminder for me!

Here are the lessons I have taken from this emergency SOS I received from my body. And I am committing to taking these lessons and making them habits so I can begin 2017 in a manner which pleases and thrills me:

1. Meditation always: This probably seems simple. But I have been telling my clients for the last couple of years that you don’t need a huge amount of time in order to meditate. The last few weeks I’ve literally just been taking two minutes in between my in person clients and closing my eyes. I connect with source and express my gratitude and then I move on. Are you really going to tell me you don’t have two minutes a day to connect? There are 1, 440 minutes in a day. Surely we can all find a couple.

2. EFT regularly: The key for me in using EFT is to get out of my head. As I was driving to work today, it was snowing very heavily. I began to feel some fear and anxiousness. I decided I was just going to tap it out while I drove. INSTANTLY that fear and trepidation was replaced by calmness and confidence. EFT is not meant to be a time consuming process. You can do it anywhere and at any time.

3. Gratitude is key: I have been working to cultivate what I like to describe as intentional gratitude. I very deliberately express gratitude for each and everything that I experience. Today I am expressing gratitude for having a reliable vehicle that keeps me safe in any weather. As well as for having the capacity to recognize when my body is unwell. And having access to medication that assist me in healing from pneumonia. Gratitude is the end all be all in my life.

4. Self-hypnosis: I love using self-hypnosis because it’s a quick and complete way to change the programming in my subconscious mind. I’m currently reprogramming my concepts about work and wealth. Including eliminating pesky thoughts such as: If I want to have a savings account, I have to put in a lot of hours!

5. Yoga: There are a couple of really simple reasons why I do yoga and why I continue to engage in yoga. It’s a phenomenally powerful way to eliminate traumas stored in our bodies! And it’s a great way to eliminate the toxins my body tends to hold on to. Not to mention the amazing added perk of having a greater flexibility. Each of these reasons on their own would be a good incentive to engage in yoga. For me the biggest key has been in just creating the habit and reinforcing the habit.

6. Increase water: I really do love to drink ice cold water. But I also have deep passion for some plain black unsweetened iced tea. I’m working to actively drink more water each and every day. As much as I love iced tea, I understand how water impacts my body. My body needs water to survive. My body needs an adequate amount of water to move, function, and eliminate toxins. I’m working to make sure I have lots of ice cold water in order to be able to drink more.

7. Keep, create, and maintain a schedule: I have very recently begun altering my availability schedule. There’s a certain amount of fear involved in this because my routine has become dictated by everyone else. However, in order to be the best me I can be, I need to establish a schedule and allow everyone else to fill in where it works for them. I have committed to honoring my body and my bodies needs from here further. I have no choice but to believe that it’s through these intimate decisions that all healing and manifestation flows from. In the end (on the other side of fear) this is a very freeing and exciting opportunity.

8. Me first, I am the prize: I used this phrase throughout this blog very deliberately “took my eyes off the prize” and I meant it very literally. I am a huge prize in my own life… Oh heck, I’m just going to say it, I am the grand prize! Because without me nothing else exists! Without me there is nothing else in my life. I often wonder how differently the world would be if we treated ourselves as the primary prize instead the last resort or last priority in life. I’m a big advocate for everyone being the number one priority in their own lives, because that allows more time and energy to focus on others.

I really want to begin a conversation about taking care of ourselves and healing. What are you doing to invite healing, comfort and love into your life? I would love to invite you to drop me an email and let me know what you are doing to heal your body and make yourself a priority in your life. As always please let me know how I can support you.

Jenn Bovee is a psychotherapist and life coach. Jenn works with people to empower them and loves watching people step into their power. Learn more about Jenn here: https://jennbovee.com/