Meditation can wipe away the day's stress, bringing with it
inner peace. See how you can easily learn to practice meditation whenever you
need it most.  By Mayo Clinic staff
 
If stress has you anxious, tense and worried, consider trying meditation.
Spending even a few minutes in meditation can restore your calm and inner peace. 
 
Anyone can practice meditation. It's simple and inexpensive, and it doesn't
require any special equipment. And you can practice meditation wherever you are
— whether you're out for a walk, riding the bus, waiting at the doctor's office
or even in the middle of a difficult business meeting.


Understanding meditation
Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years. Meditation originally
was meant to help deepen understanding of the sacred and mystical forces of
life. These days, meditation is commonly used for relaxation and stress
reduction.


Meditation is considered a type of mind-body complementary medicine.
Meditation produces a deep state of relaxation and a tranquil mind. During
meditation, you focus your attention and eliminate the stream of jumbled
thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress. This process results
in enhanced physical and emotional well-being.


Benefits of meditation
Meditation can give you a sense of calm, peace and balance that benefits both
your emotional well-being and your overall health. And these benefits don't end
when your meditation session ends. Meditation can help carry you more calmly
through your day and can even improve certain medical conditions.


Meditation and emotional well-being
When you meditate, you clear away the information overload that builds up every day and contributes
to your stress.

If you enjoy this content, please like & share.

With love & light,
Keli Ackroyd
www.KeliAckroyd.com

PS-- Leave a comment on why you'd like to start a meditation practice. Those with the "best" response will win access to the Five Week Meditation Foundation series for only $25.

From the American Holistic Medical Association:

1. 1. Optimal Health is the primary goal of holistic medical
   practice. It is the conscious pursuit of the highest level of functioning
   and balance of the physical, environmental, mental, emotional, social and spiritual aspects of human experience, resulting in a dynamic state of being fully alive. This creates a condition of well-being regardless of the presence or absence of disease.
    


2. The Healing Power of Love. Holistic health care
   practitioners strive to meet the patient with grace, kindness, acceptance, and
   spirit without condition, as love is life’s most powerful
   healer.
    


3. Whole Person. Holistic health care practitioners view
   people as the unity of body, mind, spirit and the systems in which they
   live.
    


4. Prevention and Treatment. Holistic health care
   practitioners promote health, prevent illness and help raise awareness of
   dis-ease in our lives rather than merely managing symptoms. A holistic approach
   relieves symptoms, modifies contributing factors, and enhances the patient’s
   life system to optimize future well-being.
    


5. Innate Healing Power. All people have innate powers of
   healing in their bodies, minds and spirits. Holistic health care practitioners
   evoke and help patients utilize these powers to affect the healing
   process.
    


6. Integration of Healing Systems. Holistic health care
   practitioners embrace a lifetime of learning about all safe and effective
   options in diagnosis and treatment. These options come from a variety of
   traditions, and are selected in order to best meet the unique needs of the
   patient. The realm of choices may include lifestyle modification and
   complementary approaches as well as conventional drugs and
   surgery.
    


7. Relationship-centered Care. The ideal practitioner-patient
   relationship is a partnership which encourages patient autonomy, and values the
   needs and insights of both parties. The quality of this relationship is an
   essential contributor to the healing process.
    


8. Individuality. Holistic health care practitioners focus
   patient care on the unique needs and nature of the person who has an illness
   rather than the illness that has the person. 
    


9. Teaching by Example. Holistic health care practitioners
   continually work toward the personal incorporation of the principles of holistic
   health, which then profoundly influence the quality of the healing
   relationship.
     


10. Learning Opportunities. All life experiences including
    birth, joy, suffering and the dying process are profound learning opportunities
    for both patients and health care practitioners.

If you find this information valuable, please like and share!

And if you are looking to improve your financial health, Click Here.

Have you ever cleaned out a closet or dresser and found an old, lost treasure? You have probably also found a lot of old junk that needed to be gotten rid of, right? The same thing goes for our emotions, but it can be a little trickier to get to the bottom of things.

And since it's time to clean out the emotional baggage... I hereby declare the next 90 days as the JOURNAL YOUR WAY TO BLISS CHALLENGE. Every morning we will write three FULL pages in our journals. It can be anything...stream of consciousness,
ranting, celebrating, complaining, visualizing--whatever comes to mind. But pick a time and do it every day! If you have challenges, need support, or have epipahanies to share, meet up with us on our very own facebook page.

Now all you have to do is go buy yourself a new journal! Who's in?

If you were living YOUR version of heaven on earth, what would that look like? Share it with us. Be bold. Open your heart.

You never know who may want to support you in making your dream come true...

In today’s world it seems that many people are really feeling the anxiety and chaos of the outside world at a very deep level, and it is affecting their physical, emotional and mental health. “Stress” has taken on the role of society’s biggest monster…the Godzilla of our time. But is it really…?

What if I was to tell you that it is all in your mind, literally!

And what if I was to challenge you to look at your biggest stressor and face it head on? You would find that it is HOW you were looking at it that was creating the stress, NOT the actual monster…and that your monster may very well be a tiny little kitten that is casting a large shadow. The problem is that we are so used to focusing on the shadow…our problems, our complaints, what’s wrong with the world…that we miss the joy and beauty that is available to us in every moment (the kitten!).

How you view the world is your choice. If you are seeing it as scary and overwhelming, or if you see it full of rainbows and butterflies, is simply a reflection of what is going on in your MIND. If your mind is slave to the ego then the world can look like a pretty miserable place. BUT when we place our mind under the guidance of Spirit, then the world can be heavenly. The problem is that it sure does SEEM like the world is just “happening” around us. But I assure you, it is not. You came here to experience yourself as the Creator. You came here to create YOUR heaven on earth. And if you’re not…it’s simply because you have not been aware that you have been blindly following the ego, instead of boldly walking in Spirit. 

It’s time for you to take your life back into your own hands, and the first step is to reconnect to your dreams.  I have personally found the best way to do that is through meditation and centering.  So I invite you to join me for the 5 Week Meditation Foundation Series to support you in becoming “mindful” of the life you are creating for yourself, and for Centering in Love & Light daily to help you stay focused on the path of your dreams.

Wishing you blessings upon blessings...

I was just doing some morning reading, and came across this...
"The cosmic energy of each zodiac sign affects us all, whether we
are born in that sign’s month or not, so the test for each of us this month is
related to facing up to reality."
And the word that stuck out to me was reality because earlier this morning I was chatting with a friend/client and "reality" came up in that conversation too. My friend has completely transformed his life in the last 10 months since we met. He had just left a career in the pharmaceutical industry, and was looking for ways to regain his health as his cholestrol was skyrocketing, his blood sugar was on the brink of diabetes, and his stress levels were off the charts. My recommendation was that he follow the Raw Promise (ForeverGreen) Program. Within a couple of months his weight was down by 30 pounds, his cholestrol dropped over 50 points, his blood sugars are normal, and he felt alive and passionate about natural health.
So fast forward to this morning's conversation and we were chatting about his new career as a health coach. He said that he LOVES what he is doing, but the money hasn't been exactly flowing through the door, so he may have to "face reality soon" and get a job.
I was horrified!!! How could anyone be willing to give up what they LOVE for money? Isn't it just easier to remove the obstacles that are keeping us from being abundant? Perhaps these are just the questions we are all getting to face as we move through the energy of Pisces...
Your thoughts...?

Super excited! An amazing document is in the making...
Who wants a copy???

Alive & Well A Holistic Center opened its doors in July 2008, and served the Fort Myers, FL community until October 2012. To serve you better, we are re-opening as an online learning center with all of your favorite teachers and classes available to you without ever having to leave home! You will be able to participate in "live" classes and pre-recorded ones, depending on your preference. Jump in, look around, let us know what you think...and if we've forgotten anything, let us know!
With love & light,
Keli, Sandy & all of your

As you can see many classes are getting ready to start in our online Holistic Center. Whether your passion is movement classes (yoga, pilates & qi gong), spiritual development (angels, pendulums, tarot), emotional health (LOVE, Redirecting Behavior, Understanding Yourself) or expanding your mind (meditation, centering, astrology)...we have everything you are looking for. Sign up for our Newsletter so you can receive our weekly inspirational messages and stay posted as to when classes are starting. Welcome to Alive & Well...welcome home!