Defying the Defaults of Stress & Negativity

You don't have to accept or settle for high levels of stress, anxiety and negativity in your life. Even if it's been that way for a long time - even if that’s all you have ever known - it's never too late for things to change for the better and stay that way.

I am living proof.

For most of my life, over 30 years, I struggled with stress, anxiety and depression. I tried many different approaches, from a laundry list of prescriptions to different therapies and psychological interventions. But what I found was that while the symptoms would alleviate for a while, they would always come roaring back. And I wanted to find a way to get to the source of the symptoms so they wouldn't have to return. So I wouldn't feel dependent on prescriptions or someone or something else to regulate my emotional and mental health. Have you ever felt this way or known someone who has?

Ultimately, I was becoming aware of my own role in the perpetuation of my own life circumstances. During my struggles, I often played the victim. I believed what my doctors at the time had told me about the terminal state of my chemical imbalances and how I would need medication to control my sickness for the rest of my life. So I consented to that reality and adopted it as my own. And any challenge to that reality was met with defensiveness, resistance, and unfortunately, unkind words. Accusing others of not caring, not listening, and above all, not being able to understand. Because I had become so identified with being sick and unwell, that any challenge to that was a challenge to my very existence.

But believing so strongly in your own inability to heal and the inability of others to help or understand has consequences.

And I reached a point where I was finally "sick and tired of feeling sick and tired." So just as I had been responsible for consenting to that reality of brokenness and illness, I began searching for a way to break that covenant and create a new reality for myself. A reality that allowed for my healing, my wellness and others being able to help and understand.

Around this time was when I began to earnestly explore the practice of meditation. I had dabbled in it sporadically over the years, but I never really opened myself to it. I resisted it, as I didn’t feel safe to look within and know more of what was happening in my own mind. So I claimed it didn’t work and even made fun of those who did meditate as “wasting their time” and “doing nothing of purpose.” But if I’m to be honest in looking at it in hindsight, that was my fear and shame getting the upper hand. Part of me knew that I needed to look within and stop running from myself, but I wasn’t ready then to confront those fears and stand my ground.

It wasn’t until my Life Activation in 2015 when I turned that corner.

I suddenly began to desire looking within and knowing my own mind. There wasn’t really a process to it happening. Like a switch, it just was, and the fears and inner dialogue that had stopped me so reliably in the past weren’t working. And while it was a little confusing, to not be stopped, I did recognize it as a window of opportunity finally opening to me. Perhaps a prayer being answered? Readiness coupled with the will to meditate and heal a part of myself that I had neglected for far too long.

So I attended a Max Meditation System™ class. This was my first time being in a guided meditation that lasted longer than 10 minutes! So while I wasn’t resistant to it like I used to be, I also had no idea what to expect and if I would even be able to do it. But I trusted the practitioner leading the meditation (she share the Life Activation with me), so I surrendered and brought myself, doubts and all, into having my own experience. And to my surprise, not only was I able to do it, but I had an experience of going within that felt safe, inviting, and magical! And in the days following the meditation, I continued noticing changes. That my stress and anxiety were not only declining in intensity, but also weren't coming back as quickly.

And I felt like I was onto something. That perhaps I had found a path to breaking the cycles of negativity and self-destruction in my life.

Not long afterwards, I chose to receive the Empower Thyself Initiation - a profound 2-day experience delving into the deepest questions about Humanity and our role on the Earth - which only increased my desire to look within and bring more of my true self into the light. And the more I attended meditations and practiced the new rituals for self-healing that I had learned in the Empower Thyself Initiation Class, the more free I felt to regulate myself emotionally and mentally and BE a much better version of myself. Thoughts weren't racing like they used to, I was calmer and less reactive, I was sleeping and eating better, nightmares and night terrors declined rapidly and dreams became lucid again, relationships became clearer and less dramatic, the negative inner chatter was much quieter, and I found myself looking forward to each day in a way that I hadn’t in a long, long time. It was like I could breathe again!

And the fascinating and truly unexpected thing was how it not only lasted, but grew.

8 years later, this pattern of self-regulation, empowerment and freedom has only grown stronger as I continue to practice meditation and the rituals I learned in the Empower Thyself Initiation. I am a whole new person as a result. Which is why I'm passionate about paying it forward. Why I teach the Max Meditation System™, why I received the training and certification to share the Life Activation, and why I answered the call to become a Guide who can teach and share the Empower Thyself Initiation. Because I am living proof. To let others know that they can be free from constant stress, negativity and anxiety. And that it's never too late to change and turn the corner.

So if you’re ready to break the cycles of fear and shame holding you back from living your life with more hope, joy and freedom to be your best self, reach out. And allow me to hold the door for your own transformation and evolution towards becoming the best version of yourself that you can be!