Dear Veronique

As Thanksgiving Day goes to a quiet and peaceful end, here, in my corner of the world, my heart is full of joy, peace and gratitude.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my personal journey lately, a journey of self-discovery, discernment, and acceptance towards self-love.

And it all started with gratitude, yes simply practicing gratitude …

The practice of gratitude as a tool for happiness has been acknowledged for years. Long-term studies support its effectiveness, suggesting that a positive, appreciative attitude contributes to more success at work, better health, peak performance in sports and business, a higher sense of well-being, and faster recovery from surgery.

But while we may acknowledge these many benefits of gratitude, it still can be difficult to sustain. So many of us are trained to notice what is broken, undone, or lacking in our lives. And for gratitude to meet its full healing potential in our lives, it needs to become more than just a Thanksgiving word. We have to learn a new way of looking at things, a new habit. And that can take some time.

That's why practicing gratitude makes so much sense. When we practice giving thanks for all we have, instead of complaining about what we lack, then we give ourselves the chance to see all of life as an opportunity and a blessing.

Gratitude is not a blindly optimistic approach that whitewashes the bad things in life or ignores them. It's more a matter of where we put our focus and attention. Pain and injustice exist in this world, but when we focus on the gifts of life, we gain a feeling of well-being. Gratitude balances us and gives us hope. It also can change our outcomes. 

There are many things to be grateful for: children and family, beautiful skies, colorful autumn leaves, friends who listen and really hear, chocolate, food, warm jackets, strawberries, books, roses, our health, butterflies. What's on your list?

Some Ways to Practice Gratitude

Beyond Thanksgiving Day, here are a few things you can do to continue the spirit of gratitude.

Keep a gratitude journal in which you list things for which you are thankful. You can make daily, weekly, or monthly lists. Greater frequency may be better for creating a new habit, but just keeping that journal where you can see it will remind you to think in gratitude.

• Make a gratitude collage by drawing or pasting pictures.
• Practice gratitude around the dinner table or make it part of your nighttime routine.
• Make a game of finding the hidden blessings in a challenging situation.
• When you feel like complaining, make a gratitude list instead. You will be amazed by how much better you feel.
• Notice how gratitude is impacting your life. Write about it, sing about it, and express thanks for gratitude.

As you practice, an inner shift begins to occur, and you may be delighted to discover how content and hopeful you are feeling. That sense of fulfillment is gratitude at work.

So, how are you going to give Thanks beyond Thanksgiving?

New in Houston, Texas

COACHING GROUP TAPPING INTO WELLNESS

I'm very excited to offer a weekly coaching group Tapping into Wellness where we will use the powerful Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), to start transforming your life. 

• Do you ever beat yourself up?
• Are you procrastinating … a lot?
• Do you have big dreams that never manifest?
• Do you have difficulties creating the time or habits for nutrition and self-care?
• Is your stress-level out of control?
• Do you find yourself doing the same so-so choices over and over again?
• Do you sometime feel like you need a miracle in your life to get things right? 
• Do you live in or around Houston, Texas?

If you answer ‘yes’ to any of those questions, then this is for you!

Each session will bring up a new topic like: stopping self-criticism, the mind-body-money connection, emotional eating, chaos in the family relationship, setting big goals, procrastination etc. 

Tapping into Wellness will meet every week to clear the blocks that keep you stuck in your money, self-care, relationships, and more!

Space is limited, so please register a.s.a.p. at:  http://www.joyousliving.me/tapping-into-wellness.html

What is Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), aka Tapping? 

EFT belongs to the field of Energy psychology. It uses the modern knowledge of psychology and brain development, and pairs it with the healing concepts that have been in practice in Eastern medicine for over 5,000 years.

EFT is a set of techniques that utilize the body's energy meridian points. All negative emotions are felt through a disruption of the body’s energy. By restoring balance to the body’s energy, we heal the negative emotions and physical symptoms that stem from this disruption. EFT has been clinically proven to provide relief from chronic pain, emotional problems, addictions, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder, and physical diseases.

The basic technique requires you to focus on the negative emotion at hand: a fear or anxiety, a bad

memory, a physical pain, an unresolved problem, or anything that’s bothering you.

While maintaining your mental focus on this issue, use your fingertips to tap 5-7 times each on 12 of the body’s meridian points. Tapping on these meridian points (hence the nickname ‘tapping’) – while concentrating on accepting and resolving the negative emotion – will access your body’s energy, restoring it to a balanced state. 

In Wealth and Wellness,