Help

That’s not an either/or question. Both can be helpful, but both come with the same caveat: if you believe your illness is completely out of your control, with no emotional or historical component, then neither medicine nor herbs will be as beneficial.

All external inputs — whether a prescription or an herb — are helpers, not fixers. We are energy beings of body, mind, and spirit. Real healing includes all three: doing the emotional work, the meditative work, and, when needed, taking the medicine your doctor prescribes. It also means making sure your physician knows what herbs and supplements you’re using, so everything works together in support of your healing.

When I get overwhelmed, I start by making a list. I like lists. My smartphone has wonderful places to keep them — I use the Notes app so I can check things off as I go. Once it’s written down, it’s okay. I don’t have to carry it all in my head anymore.

Then I look at the list and pick one or two things to do that day. If I get them done, fine. If I don’t, that’s fine too. Overwhelm softens when I remember: it’s always about doing one thing at a time

DThe ego tries to fix problems on the same level it created them. Even Einstein said you can’t solve a problem with the same frequency that created it. When I think I know what to do and I push and stress and keep trying again and again — that’s ego. Sometimes it takes me hours to recognize it, sometimes years. There are things I’m still working on with my ego.

But here’s the bottom line: letting go is the only way to listen. Ego keeps talking, and as long as we’re talking, we can’t listen. When we get quiet — when we drop into that still, small place within — we can hear. And often, the message is simple: do nothing, and it will all work out. That’s the soul in chargeescription text goes here

DeNotice where you feel stuck, powerless, or at the mercy of outside forces. That’s the victim voice. The shift begins with one question: “What is still in my power here?” Even choosing to soften your response is a step into Flow.

In the 1980s, Eric Berne developed Transactional Analysis (TA), and the book I’m OK, You’re OK helped popularize it. TA describes three roles people often unconsciously slip into: the Victim, the Persecutor, and the Rescuer (also explored in the Karpman Drama Triangle1). A simple test is this: if you don’t feel “I’m okay, and the other person is okay,” then you may be in one of those roles.

The way out? Remembering that both you and the other are okay. When you stand in that awareness, the triangle dissolves, and you return to Flow.scription text goes here

DSticky energy is when you think a project will take five or ten minutes — and it takes forever. Absolutely forever.

For me, it showed up in an app I was trying to use to pay a bill. Every time I entered my card, it went all the way through and then said it couldn’t validate. After a few days of this, I finally realized: the energy was sticking because there was a better option, a different app I could use for social media.

Sometimes sticky energy means it’s time to pause. Try once more, maybe twice, but then stop and ask: What is sticking here? What needs to be released or changed? When you do, you’ll know in your heart what to do next.escription text goes here

DescriptioThat’s a really, really good question. And the truth is — it’s going to be different for everyone. For you, it might be listening to music. For someone else, it might be walking in nature. It might be praying, meditating, calling a friend, or petting a dog. It could even be something silly that makes you laugh.

Look around you right now. What’s something you can do, in this very room, to feel more peaceful? Is it simply taking a breath? Looking out a window? Wrapping your arms around yourself in a hug?

And here’s a hint about a smile: a friend once told me she had trouble smiling at herself. I said, “Just say cheese.”. Try it, say cheese. Found yourself smiling didn’t you!