2012 - a year of Conscious Self Care

Here’s me and my babies planting our Bodhi tree at the top of our property. I’ve had it since it was a seedling. The Bodhi tree is the tree that Buddha sat under to become enlightened and we plan for it to be the final step in our 7 step journey to enlightenment garden.

Happy growing little tree.

Filed under: Personal Development

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I remember my first Christmas with my new in-laws. See, they do the BIG family thing but for two whole weeks, not one day. Because Ian’s two brothers and parents all live in different states, they come together every other year bringing with them the whole clan of off spring.

Now if this isn’t stressful enough, I had only met his family once, before we secretly eloped under the Eiffel Tower(that’s another story). So here we all are in the family home. All 14 of us plus Nana, the cousins, the cousin in-laws, the aunts and uncles, the grand kids, and the great grand kids and guess who everyone wants the low down on? ME!

PRESSURE!!!!! I just wanted Santa to whisk me away in his sleigh and set me up in his toy factory. But no, I had to buck up and pull my head in and just be myself. But that’s the thing. Is myself good enough? Because that’s where our head goes sometimes when we are under pressure isn’t it? We start thinking worst case scenario and soon enough a simple lunch turns into a cat fight scene from Next Top Model.

In the end, Christmas ended up being pretty good once I applied the 5 tips I am about to share with you. Christmas can be the most stressful time of the year for a lot of people. Diet and exercise go out the window and then we start to feel guilty which adds more stress. I’ve put together 5 simple tips that can help you sail through this Christmas relatively unscathed so that you can have fun and enjoy the festivities and the in-laws

There are lots of situations in life that produce stress but worrying over things that you cannot change magnifies the stress. The situation then becomes fear based and anything grounded in fear blocks the flow and prevents or slows down achieving the desired outcome.

So here are 5 ways to avoid unnecessary stress and worry in any situation.

1. Step back from the time machine. Going into the future in your head and thinking about all the ‘what-if’s’ and ‘maybes’ will only cause you to freak out more. Going into the past and dredging up all the “shoulda, coulda, wouldas’ will only cause heartache and regret. Stay in the present moment and look at what is real. Most of the time it is not as bad as it seems.

2. Lose the drama queen act, sweetie. We can be very good at turning a mole hill into a mountain and we do this by being a drama queen. For some people they need drama in their lives to feel alive and so they turn a headache into a tumour or an innocent look into a full blown affair. Drama taps into the wrong kind of energy and it’s like sugar. It will give you a quick fast burst of energy but will then completely fatigue you.

3. Scratch the record. When we continually go over and over something in our head we create our own bad song record in our head. We keep playing this bad song over and over again and it becomes catchy. Soon enough you can’t get it out of your head. Sort of like what Billy Ray Cyrus did to us with ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ (Bad song). We need to scratch the record so we stop thinking the negative thoughts. Once it’s scratched we replace it with more positive empowering thoughts.

4. Don’t try and play God. If you can’t change the situation then don’t try to. I couldn’t get out of Christmas so I just had to let it go. Surrender to what is and have faith that the right outcome will happen. Just because you don’t know what it is yet doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. Keep the faith, sister.

5. Stop, Drop and Roll. Well, that’s if you’re on fire but if you’re not then I suggest you have another little action plan that helps you out when you feel yourself in a stressful situation. We have a little guy called Rompa. He is a crocodile from the Crocodiles not Waterlillies personal development course and he stands for:

Relax

Observe

Manage

Patience

Act

Rompa is always good in a sticky situation. So there you have it, 5 suggestions that will help you stay grounded and centered this Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Filed under: Health and Wellbeing, Personal Development

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This week my husband Ian and I have been having heaps of fun developing the mission and vision statement for our Enrich Retreat. This is essential for every business because it encapsulates the identity and purpose of your business and also the focus point for everything you do.

We love to be able to create a story describing the business in a few years time. What it will be like, what it will feel like. What do the customers experience, what do you experience?

This time we decided to write an article from a Journalist’s point of view, who was interviewing me about the Retreat and what people will experience when they go there.

It was fun to go forward into the future and imagine where we will be and who we will be. I wanted to share this with you to give you an example of what I’m talking about and how you can do exactly the same with not only your business but your life.

Why not sit down and write a feature article about your dream, from the perspective of you being interviewed. Put yourself in the future; describe in detail what it is and how it feels.

Now we have clarity around our vision, we also have an article that can be submitted to the media for some great exposure when the time is right.

Here it is:

A Sanctuary to escape to right here in suburbia!

Creator, founder and owner of Enrich Retreat and Spa, Karina Stephens, says she and her husband Ian, started with a vision in mind. ‘We wanted a serene space where people could not only escape from their reality for a while, but a place of knowledge into which people can retreat to find clarity, access wisdom, and emerge better able to engage with their world in a more meaningful way. We wanted our retreat to be more than just a day spa – it would address the whole person – body, mind and spirit. It’s a place of replenishment and clarity, where they receive education, inspiration and empowerment to address their issues, and return to life more capable and in tune with themselves, more loving and compassionate and more beautiful within, as well as on the surface.”

She see’s herself and her team as offering ‘inner renovations’. “We are inner change facilitators offering a more holistic approach to wellness. Our programs address not only your outer beauty, but focus also on optimizing your sense of health, vitality and well-being”.

As a co-creator of ‘Neuro-transformational Strategies, Karina wanted the Enrich Retreat and Spa to also address the invisible world of the client – their mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. “Our years of listening to feedback from corporate executives, confirmed our suspicion that people are yearning for knowledge and looking for the missing structure and tools which allow them to address the needs of the ‘being within the body’.

Mission Statement: The Enrich Retreat & Spa exists to:

• Provide a unique and inviting sanctuary where people can retreat to renovate their inner and outer being; and
• Serve people and equip them with tools to enhance and ENRICH their well-being and their life.

We will create clients addicted to coming back. When clients come to the retreat, they will:

• Be absolutely certain they are in a special spiritual place. They will be certain that they are in the capable hands of a team of ‘Inner Change Facilitators’. Certain about the value for money.
• Feel a Sense of connection and a part of the Enrich family
• Discover A diverse variety of programs and treatments which address the mind, body and the soul
• Grow and evolve, leaving with expanded knowledge of how to achieve fulfilment in their world
• Feel like they are the most important person in the world
• Leave with a heightened sense of trust and faith in themselves and in Enrich – they will want to return as part of a regular ritual to manage their life more effectively,
• Have experienced a team of people who have a ‘servant’ mentality – you are at the centre of our world.

Enrich Retreat and Spa is located at Tweed Heads, 15 Minutes from Coolangatta Airport and is definitely a MUST VISIT location.

There, how cool is that! It certainly provides a great deal of content that you can use to build a business plan or create a vision board and a list of goals.

Filed under: Business, Personal Development

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