Inner Nutrition: How Can We Best Cope with Health Challenges? Roslyn McGrath

natural living, holistic wellness, U.P. wellness publication, holistic health

You do everything you can to eat right, exercise regularly, and make healthy lifestyle choices. Or you’ve thought about doing so, but haven’t quite followed up with this very much yet. Or you feel like you should, but really don’t want to. Or sometimes you do these things, sometimes you don’t. You’re young. You’re old. You’re somewhere in-between. Regardless, it’s likely you’ve had, or at some point will have to deal with a significant health challenge, something beyond a stubbed toe or head cold, something that may be painful, limit your capacities, and/or threaten your survival.

Frustration, fear, anger, grief, sorrow, self-pity–any or all of these reactions may well up in dealing with your situation. It’s normal and it’s natural. And trying to stuff these emotions back down is likely only to increase your suffering sooner or later. More and more, research has shown how our mental and emotional state impacts our physical health. So what might help you to authentically cope with your situation in the most positive and effective way?

In speaking with and observing friends, family members, and clients, as well as considering my own experiences, a number of suggestions arose. Below is what our lay experts have to say. What might it be like to use these suggestions? What suggestions do you have of your own?

Don’t dwell on your health challenge too much. You are not the illness or injury; you are simply dealing with it. Be sure to pay attention to the other parts of your life as well. You’re likely to feel better emotionally, and more like yourself.

Consider with whom you’ll discuss your health challenge, as well as how often and in what ways. The fears, past experiences, and sympathy or pity of well-meaning others can drag you down because they focus upon your challenge as a negative. Who will be a compassionate supporter? Who will hold a positive space with and for you?

Don’t label your health challenge with its medical term, which can have many negative associations to it. Instead, see it in symbolic terms. This may help loosen up your view of it, bring you a greater sense of positive potential, and envision and work toward more positive outcomes.

Let your supporters know what form of support you’d like. This may be different at different times, so keep communicating. Are you seeking advice? Feedback? Cheerleading? Neutral listening? Help with tasks?

Have patience. Time as well as tenacity may be required for your healing. Trying to push the river may be pointless or even produce negative results, extending your healing time, so accepting where you’re at while continuing to envision your positive outcome is important.

Trust your gut in making decisions. Information-gathering in itself is unlikely to provide one 100% guaranteed “correct” choice and ultimately your healthcare choices are your own. So give yourself what you need to line up with a choice and then follow through on it.

Don’t give up. If the approach you’ve been going with has been given a good try and isn’t working for you, open to exploring other avenues.

Don’t expect to feel positive all the time. Emotions come up. Don’t judge yourself for having them. So long as we don’t hold on to them or feed them, they are temporary states. Accept your feelings for what they are, and return to your positive focus when you’re ready.

Trust. To the best of your ability, let go of worries, fears, and resistance, surrender to the universal flow, and watch the magic unfold. Remembering this may help lessen some of the suffering in the moment.

Focus on what you can do more than on what you can’t, and do those activities that bring you joy and fulfillment.

Do something creative that you wouldn’t otherwise. Your current limitations may even help inspire the form your creativity takes. For example, when a very physically active friend was laid up in recovery from a hip replacement, she danced with her toes, developing the strength and coordination of her ankles, feet and toes.

Think about how you anticipate feeling when your healing is complete. Do your best to really feel how that feels, perhaps even imagining you’re breathing this feeling in from every direction, or it’s being poured into you by angels.

Pay attention to, and to the best of your ability, stay actively engaged in the lives of your loved ones, and with the world around you.

Spend time in nature. Sunshine can be very healing. Take time to slow down and appreciate the life around you. Breathe in the freshness of the earth. If you can’t get outside, play recordings of nature sounds and surround yourself with plants and flowers. Imagine yourself in a beautiful forest or meadow.

Cultivate gratitude. This allows you to release negative emotions that no longer serve you. Taking time each day to practice gratefulness, whether in a thought, prayer, affirmative statement, meditation, or simply looking around for things for which you are grateful is healing. It’s particularly helpful to include yourself, and also the many ways in which your body is working well. Given the human body’s complexity, no matter your health challenge, likely there are many things functioning well, so this is a more balanced, accurate view. Gratitude allows us to receive more love and joy, and bathes the very body cells in a positive charge, relaxing us.

Special thanks to Joshua Alan Brown for his assistance with this article, and also to numerous friends, clients, and loved ones.

Roslyn Elena McGrath is an observer, participant, visionary, and implementer of life as it is and can be. She supports herself and others to shine their light through personal growth and vibrational healing sessions, workshops, books, recordings, art, and this magazine. Visit http://www.EmpoweringLightworks.com and HealthandHappinessUPMag.com.

Creative Inspiration: Winter Moon Madness, Roslyn Elena McGrath

winter moon madness illustration

Winter moon madness sparkles sharply
over crusty layers of icy skyfall.
It ripples through frigid rivers
and captures cold shadows,
increasing their inky contrast
to the shining white mystery
that blurs shapes
and freezes forms.

Can color continue in this world?
Must it all be shades of dark
and light, ad nauseam, forever?

When the moon conquers our souls,
will we remain frozen,
caught up in our thoughts and counter-currents,
statues under indigo skies?
Or will we reach out,
grab another’s hand,
and dance wildly to the sound
of our own howling laughter,
kissing shadows and sparkles
’til we keel over drunk
with intoxicating, frosted breath?

I happen to have a star shine in my hand
that wears me as its amulet,
and I am proud to share its wealth
with all the wide, white world.

Roslyn Elena McGrath is a visionary artist, author, holistic practitioner, teacher, and publisher. You can find out more about her private sessions, upcoming workshops, and inspirational books and products at http://www.EmpoweringLightworks.com.

Inner Nutrition: Procastination-Prevention Prompts, by Roslyn Elena McGrath

“Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.” – Spanish Proverb

Does the mere thought of procrastination provoke a sense of uneasiness and even mild-to-moderate guilt?

According to http://www.psychologicalscience.org, “experts define it as the voluntary delay of some important task that we intend to do, despite knowing that we’ll suffer as a result. Studies have found that procrastinators carry accompanying feelings of guilt, shame, or anxiety with their decision to delay, in addition to negative impacts on ‘performance, well-being, health, relationships, regrets & bereavement.’ ”

Leading expert Pychyl, who runs the 20-year-old Procrastination Research Group, finds “Procrastinators get sick more often, report higher rates of depression, and suffer the somatic and psychological effects of elevated stress. Procrastination doesn’t only affect our personal well-being and integrity, but it has an ethical dimension, affecting those around us who suffer ‘second-hand,’ either because of the time we take away from them when we rush off to finish things last-minute, or because the stress we put ourselves under negatively affects the health of our relationships.”

While some of us are chronic procrastinators (20 percent of the U.S. population, according to psychologist Dr. Joseph Ferrari, a leading international researcher on the topic), most of us procrastinate at some time or another. Do you have a task you’ve been putting off? If so, I invite you to explore the following questions:

Is this actually a task or is it a goal? If it’s a goal, what is the first task for you to accomplish toward it? For example, if I want to lose weight, that is my goal. I will then need to choose concrete steps toward achieving it, perhaps no longer buying high-calorie snacks, or eating smaller portions. If what you initially chose is a goal, pick a beginning action step toward it, and apply the questions below.

Do I truly need to do this task? Is it actually a low priority item for my values, a “should” from a sense of social expectations or obligations? Or is it something that is more appropriately someone else’s responsibility? For example, has your child reached an age where he or she could put away his or her laundry, benefitting by taking responsibility for this task?

Do I want to do this task? Does it help me to achieve something I value? Or help to prevent something I find detrimental from taking place? Take a look at the longer-term benefits here. While your task may not have short-term appeal to you, its longer-term value may get you over the delaying-hump to act on it. For example, if I want healthy gums and teeth, I may choose to floss daily despite any dislike I may have for the action itself.

Am I able to do this task? Or do I need more information, skills, or other support? If so, what steps can I take to equip me to complete this task? Do I need to chunk this task down into a series of smaller, more easily accomplishable tasks?

Is there something else I need to do before tackling this task? Do I need more sleep and/or nutrition to be able to accomplish it? Do I need to clear a physical space (desk, counter, etc.) to be physically and/or mentally able to do it? Do I need to obtain and/or organize the materials involved to be able to do it? Is there a different task that really, truly is more important for me to take care of first?

Am I afraid of failing (or of succeeding) at this task? If so, what potential consequences of this are concerning me? How might I respond effectively to my concerns? Who or what might support me in responding to these concerns? Are these potential consequences of greater or lesser concern to me than the risks involved with not following through with this task?

Am I simply in the habit of not doing this task? If so, what steps can I take to help me create a new habit of accomplishing this task? Is there someone or something that might help support me in creating this new habit?

Is there a better way for me to accomplish this task? Is there a more efficient method for me to do this? A more enjoyable one? A better perspective on doing it? A better time of day for me to do it? Might it help me to schedule it in or tell someone supportive when I will accomplish it? Set a deadline for its completion? Reward myself in a healthy manner for following through at each step along the way? Would it be better for me to request, barter or pay someone else to do it?

As Pychyl explains “Procrastination is really a self-inflicted wound that gradually chips away at the most valuable resource in the world: time.” Only you can discover what you need to do to help heal that wound and reap the rewards of time well-spent.

Roslyn Elena McGrath is the author of Chakras Alive! and other personal growth books and CDs. She recently released a recording of the Chakras Alive! meditations, and also offers workshops and private appointments. For more info., visit http://www.empoweringlightworks.com or contact (906) 228-9097, info@empoweringlightworks.com.

Your Energy & Your Life: Your Crowning Glory, by Roslyn Elena McGrath

This is the final article of a seven-part series on your 7 main energy centers.

All of life includes a spiritual component in that we are all part of something beyond what we can identify purely with our physical senses. Our attention is often focused primarily on the physical, yet our lives can be so enriched by deepening our spiritual awareness.

As you move into the holiday season and beyond, how might it feel to include more attention to this vital aspect of being alive?

Developing your understanding of your crown chakra, the energy vortex located above the center of the top of your head, can support you in deepening the spirituality in your life. Here is a first-person description of it, followed by questions to consider, and some ideas on how you might support this part of yourself.

I am your link to Heavenly Creation. I am your source of knowing Heaven while on Earth. I help you relate to otherworldly experiences. I assist your linkage with those who have made their transition, those who are in the process of coming into human form, and those who are your spiritual teachers and guides. I assist you to experience other lifetimes, parallel realities, and much more. I enlighten your load, allowing you to process current challenges in the context of spiritual discipline, spiritual awakening, and spiritual mores. Everything becomes easier as you bask in the Light of the vastness of Being. It is as if you look to the stars, recognize their relationship with your own human heart, and relax into knowing that you are part of the wonder of All That Is and that your troubles are minute within this universal context.

I am the place where you can review your life in terms of spiritual growth and empowerment, know spiritual teachings through your Soul, and invite expansion of your human experience to encompass greater knowledge of Heaven and its potential to be lived on earth.

I am completing a particular phase of human evolution right now, in which you transition from having been instilled with a strong sense of separation from other forms of life, from the crux of Creation and from one another, to a consciously felt sense of connection with all of life and its source as the dominant factor.

You will continue to know yourself as an individuated facet of the God experience on Earth, but with much greater awareness of your origination from and connection through Source. You are in for quite the magnificent ride!

It behooves you to dwell upon my vortex, in combination with your other primary vortices, of course, in order to utilize better the influx of incoming Light and ride the waves of shift with greater comfort and Grace. Indeed, I am a portal through which much Grace can flow. And I am thrilled to play such a pivotal role in your ongoing evolution!

Questions to Consider

– Do you have a sense of the Eternal and Infinite?
– Do you cultivate a sense of sacredness?
– Do you know yourself as part of the web of all life?
– Do you experience your life as having purpose and meaning?
– Do you experience Grace?

11 Ways to Support Your Spirituality

Pray.
Meditate.
Go to &/or create a special place where you feel you can best connect with your spirituality.
Give your full attention to the moment.
Wear and/or surround yourself with shades of violet and/or lavender.
Wear amethyst, sugilite, charoite, selenite, diamond, and/or other crystals supportive of your crown chakra on your person, and/or place in a well-frequented, visible spot in your home.
Keep spiritual pictures, statues, and/or other items in your environment.
Dab a little rose, lotus, helichrysum, or other essential oil supportive of your crown chakra, diluted with jojoba oil or other unscented carrier, just under your nose, on a handkerchief you keep with you, or diffuse in your home and/or work space.
Visualize your crown chakra opening like a flower to receive more light
Read about and/or watch movies about spiritual experiences.
In a quiet, comfortable space and undisturbed time, visualize a brilliant violet-white in front of you and all around you, breathing it in until you eventually feel as if you have become this color, then ask if there is anything your crown center would like you to know.

Roslyn Elena McGrath is the author of Chakras Alive! and other personal growth books and CDs. She recently released a recording of the Chakras Alive! meditations, and also offers workshops and private appointments. For more info., visit http://www.empoweringlightworks.com or contact (906) 228-9097, info@empoweringlightworks.com.

Finding Your Fortune, by Roslyn McGrath

pot of gold

What if . . . you received each dollar that came your way with appreciation for all the unknown people through whose hands it had passed, as well as for its potential uses in your life?

What if . . . you looked at each penny spent as a clear expression of your values and priorities?

What if . . . you felt the balance between what you are giving and what you are getting, each time you made a purchase or received a check?

What if . . . you deeply appreciated the wide range of exchange options a monetary system can offer?

What if . . . you intended that all the money you spend or give brings good to all its future recipients?

Take a moment to imagine doing one or more of these practices. How does it feel?

What kind of impact do you think integrating such practices in your life might make on you and others?

Most of us were not raised to act on, or even consider, such possibilities. Typically money has been both deified and vilified in our society, yet money is simply a tool, a vehicle for exchange, whose potential is what we make of it. Often there is tension around the topic, and/or reluctance to look at it clearly.

How might you bring more clarity, playfulness and positive creativity to the subject in your own life?

As we come into a new season of giving and receiving, and each new moment of living, I think it’s well worth considering how we might best clean up our thoughts and ideas about money in order to bring our best to all our future exchanges. Your imagination can be a powerful tool for jump-starting this process. For example, you could play with imagining a divine hose that clears off any muck from your concepts of money, making way for fresh possibilities, and then act upon them.

It takes commitment to change old patterns. If there’s an idea in this article that appeals to you, or one of your own that comes to mind, you might begin there. Gratitude journals have been touted by Oprah and others for their effectiveness. How about keeping a “Re-Creating Money Journal” to reflect on your experiences with this?

Or consider the simplest thing you might begin doing right now toward improving your relationship with money and start there, adding your next step when ready.

If you prefer an in-depth re-creation of your relationship with money, you might consider implementing the program offered by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin in their classic book, Your Money or Your Life.

The world is what we make of it. Let’s bring our best to the topic of money and create our financial relationships anew. You might be amazed by all the other relationships this clears up too!

Roslyn Elena McGrath publishes Health & Happiness U.P. Magazine, and shares energy, insights and inspiration to shine your light at Empowering Lightworks. She’ll be facilitating a “Maximum Manifesting Workshop” on Oct. 15, 2017 For more info., visit http://www.EmpoweringLightworks.com.

*Join us for Myth-Busting & Self-Help Tips: YOUR Health & Happiness Forum, Saturday, Sept. 30th 2017, 1 pm – 4 pm in the Community Room on the lower level of the Peter White Public Library, Marquette, MI, and help us celebrate our 10th Anniversary. Click here for more info!

**FOLLOW us here and/or on Facebook to be entered to WIN in our 10th Anniversary drawing!

Note from the Editor

Health & Happiness U.P. Magazine is celebrating its 7^thAnniversary AND its expansion to serve 6 Central & Western U.P. counties!

Today, distribution of 9,000 copies of our Fall 2014 issue will begin. That’s 6 times our original quantity to 6 times our original number of distribution spots.

We’re also starting our 3^rd year of additional support to a specific area of community life. Previously Health & Happiness increased its coverage of both senior and youth issues, and provided related donations to Marquette Adult Day Services, Start the Cycle, and Music for All Kids.

This year, we’ll begin an added focus on Nature, with additional related content and local donation.

THANK YOU for your important part in making all this happen.

The local businesses and organizations that support healthy lifestyles, overall wellness and preventative care by advertising in our publication play an important role too in this too, so please give them a big THANK YOU!

And be sure to check out the rest of our website as well as our Facebook page, where you can learn more, get updates on upcoming events and share your comments, questions and ideas.

To your health and happiness,

Roslyn Elena McGrath

Your Goddess Is Calling

Tomorrow, June 6^th, Discover the Goddess Archetypes that most speak to you and how you can benefit from their inspirational messages for personal growth!

Author, artist and intuitive Roslyn Elena McGrath will be sharing personally meaningful, helpful messages from her recently released books, Goddess Heart Rising: Paintings, Poems and Meditations for Activating Your Divine Potential, and The Third Mary: 55 Messages for Empowering Truth, Peace & Grace from the Mother of Mary Magdalene.

Some of the original Goddess paintings featured in Goddess Heart Rising will be on view.

The event takes place 6 pm at Panara Imports, 125 W. Washington St., Marquette, MI.

Free Admission. Autographed books and Goddess posters will be available for sale.

For more info., go to www.IntuitiveLearningCreations.com, www.GoddessHeartRising.com or www.TheThirdMary.com.

Announcing Health & Happiness’s 2013 Donation!

As part of Year Two of Health & Happiness U.P. Magazine’s 5-year commitment to increased support for a different area of community life each year, we’ve increased our coverage of youth and parenting issues and have chosen two local children’s programs to receive our annual donation – Start the Cycle, and Music 4 All Kids.

We’d like to thank those advertisers who have generously added to this donation – Moonstone Gallery, Coco’s Restaurant, Panara Imports, Hempy’s Company, Huron Earth Deli, Alicia Smith Dambeck, LAc, CH, Aurelia Holistic Health & Healing, Wendi Greer, CSW, Natural Connections, Serendipity Salon, Intuitive Learning Creations, Elements of Consignment, Intentional Healing, Joy Center, and Northstar Employee Assistance Program.

Click here for more on Music 4 All Kids, including MFAK Director Shane Murray’s response to receiving our donation.

We look forward to including a special feature on Start the Cycle in an upcoming issue.

And please comment here to let us know what you’d like to see added to our youth and parenting content, or on our Facebook page.

Our special Season for Giving & Living Health & Happiness issue goes to press today! It will be delivered to over 250 Marquette & Alger County locations over the next week. I hope it will inspire you to do just that, for an extra wonderful holiday, and beyond!

With best wishes,

Roslyn Elena McGrath, Publisher

Creative Inspiration: Spinning Your Web, by Roslyn Elena McGrath

Glimpse the shimmer within shimmer within you

that snags your dreams

and digests them into poems,

stories, anecdotes, detailing your pursuits.

Glimpse the shimmer within shimmer within you

that composes melodies,

visualizes songs, and arranges cantatas

into vessels that carry your essence.

Glimpse the shimmer within shimmer within you

that turns sounds into words, words into stories,

stories into epics and epics into history

that echoes your perspective.

Glimpse the shimmer within shimmer within you

that causes thoughts to grow into patterns,

patterns into beliefs, and beliefs into panoramas

of living art that creates itself.

You are now enchanted here,

the believer of the tales you’ve spun.

Turn this weaving at an angle now

and watch the kaleidoscope rearrange.

The colors shift and change

to elaborate new stories.

Cause and effect continue unbroken

‘til the strand holding them together changes.

Allow one piece of the puzzle to emerge

and the whole puzzle is recreated.

You are a shape-shifter,

turning with the tides set in motion

by your self-created patterns

that shine upon reflection

and remain invisible in the dark,

netting the nuggets that fuel their weave.

Beauty lies in the lace of creation,

its tensile strength and endless adaptability

mesmerizing us deeper into its geometric repetition,

echoing the sound wave its Originator made.

Strum a strand for your own expansion, expression,

create a new form that propagates itself for you.

Witness the shift

of one heart humming

with Original creation,

hanging in the mystery of the Void.

You are endless patterning

recreating itself

with thoughtwave

after thoughtwave.

Channel the changes you desire

into your warp and weft

as part of the Eternal Tapestry

that lives and breathes and moves.

Continue your hum louder.

The chorus grows to support you.

You emerge with poetry

laced throughout your skin

and echoing through your pores

into your cells and out to the world,

a spinner spinning itself into glory.

Roslyn McGrath facilitates healing experiences through her art, poetry, intuitive counseling, energy healing, workshops and guided meditations. This poem was inspired by her painting Spider Woman, and will be part of her meditation CD series. Listen to other meditations, view art and learn more at www.intuitivelearningcreations.com.