by Cynthia Bischoff | Jan 24, 2015 | Heartliving
Feeling relaxed is a natural feeling when you are in a state of balance. In order to understand balance, you must first allow yourself to experience a state of true relaxation, so that you have a reference point for what it feels like to be in balance. Why is this important? For some people, anxiety feels natural.
How might you gain greater balance? An important tool to practice using is “mindfulness.” Mindfulness is actually a natural activity that we can all use to help us discover and sustain balance. To be mindful means to bring your attention fully into whatever you are doing or experiencing at the moment. For example, if you are washing a glass, you focus on and experience that activity without letting your mind wander into some other task. You notice the feeling of the warm water and the soap on your hands, the feeling of the sponge as you hold it to wash the glass. If you are eating a bite of an apple, you eat it slowly and taste and feel that bite. Mindfulness can change even routine behaviors, and in turn, can enhance your life.
Most of us make a life of multi-tasking which generally means our mind is rarely focused on where we are, and we’re not fully present to the experience we’re having. If you learn to bring greater mindfulness into even a small fraction of your activities, you can add years of quality experience to your life. Research suggests that there are tremendous health benefits to mindfulness.
From an energetic perspective, love and mindfulness vibrate at a similar frequency, and we know that love is the highest vibration there is. By practicing mindfulness, you can create a stillpoint to return to in moments of chaos or anxiety.
One of my clients did a class project on mindfulness which she called “stopping.” She simply sat very still in a chair and took several deep breaths and relaxed for five minutes each day. She didn’t do anything during that time nor did she try to “think” of anything. This activity, she reported to her class, at first was so hard for her! She was so used to keeping her mind and body busy at all times that she felt like she was wasting time. Yet as she stayed with her project every day for 8 weeks, she came to realize that this stopping was a time when she began to let herself “feel” rather than to keep “running from herself.” By slowing down and becoming more focused, she became more purposeful about where she was putting her energy and what she was choosing to do and how.
If you’d like to practice mindfulness, a wonderful exercise is to use awareness of your breathing as a balancing force. Sit calmly in a relaxed position and focus on your breathing for a few moments. Breathe in slowly and notice your breath as you breathe in, feel the expansion of your chest, and then release slowly–feeling a state of surrender on your exhale. Breathe in and out for several moments with full awareness.
In the words of the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh– “The secret of your transformation lies in your handling of this very moment.”
by Cynthia Bischoff | Jan 18, 2015 | Heartliving
Have you ever wondered why some people heal from illness and others do not? Or how vibration plays powerfully into the healing process?
This information-packed one-day workshop will help you understand and apply principles related to your body-mind connection. Through lecture about important body-mind information, exercises, and tools to “Heal Your Body,” you will learn:
- Basic Ideas and Principles of Body-Mind Connection
- How Your Body Speaks Your Mind
- Eastern and Western Views on the Body-Mind and Healing
- The Body Beautiful: Parts of the Body and Their Meanings
- The Energetics of Healing & Symptoms and their Intuitive Meanings
- Research Facts about the Body and Healing
- What a Person Can Do to Heal
Healing through Mind-Body Awareness, a one day workshop taught by Dr. Cynthia Bischoff, will be held on March 21, 2015, at the Virginia Beach Resort Hotel & Conference Center, Virginia Beach, VA (on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay)!
- Workshop Fee: $140.00 (Early Registration until 2/14 is $130.00– so sign-up early)
- Program Fee includes: Course Materials and Lunch
- CEU’s—Continuing Education Units—are available through Old Dominion University for this program.
Are You Ready to Change Your Life? Register Now
Over sixteen years ago, Dr. Cynthia Bischoff, a communications professor and university director, had a life-changing experience that motivated her to create her own business Heartliving™. Her intention was to empower others to live more meaningful lives.
Since then, Cynthia has taught and coached thousands of people in the U.S., Japan, and Europe. Whether her audience has consisted of corporate executives, homemakers, physicians, or artists, she has found that their motivation is the same: a desire for inspiration, as well as greater meaning and balance in their life experience. Her workshops offer a unique curriculum that creates a noticeable positive behavioral and psychological shift in her clients.
A master speaker and story teller, Cynthia inspires others through her poignant life journey of risk taking and living her soul’s mission. What distinguishes Cynthia is an authentic compassion and tireless commitment to help walk people through significant, transformational life events. She is a critically acclaimed body-mind practitioner who teaches body-mind healing methods in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, and has helped clients with the most challenging circumstances, such as reframing traumas, managing life-threatening illnesses (understanding the symbolic reason for illness as well as applying complementary healing modalities), and guiding people to make the most of their life situation.
An author of three books, several national telecourses, and numerous videos, Cynthia has 36 years of teaching and leadership experience in academic, business, and community settings. She received the Virginian Pilot Inside Business “Women in Business Achievement Award 2013,” as well as countless honors including being named in the “Top 10 Best Instructors in the Nation” by National Technological University.
by Cynthia Bischoff | Jan 10, 2015 | Heartliving
Imagining your best possible self can be a powerful and positive catalyst for change. You can do this through active visualization or meditation, not unlike one would daydream the best possible future life scenario.
Instead of focusing in your visualization on WHO else is with you or WHERE you are exactly, keep your focus on the most positive and peaceful feeling state you can imagine for yourself. In fact, often we do not know the details of what will bring us the greatest state of peace and happiness.
Researchers and psychologists have found that imagining or writing about your “best possible self” can create healthy emotions, increase your positive outlook, and fortify you to meet any challenges. In addition, it also changes the expectations you have of yourself, allowing you to release old limiting beliefs and break free of constraints.
by Cynthia Bischoff | Dec 6, 2014 | Heartliving
While a healthy diet and adequate rest are beneficial in building your immune system, a number of natural ingredients can help you prevent or heal a cold should you get one. I learned these ideas in trainings I have taken in healing and health. Here are a few tips:
- Get plenty of zinc in your diet (most often found in whole grains).
- Pack your meals with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (for example, citrus fruits and vegetables).
- Remember that caffeine is dehydrating, so if you are losing body fluids as a result of a cold, choose herbal, caffeine-free teas.
- Drink fresh fruit juices. Grapefruit, orange, and lemon juices are antiseptic and cleansing.
- Eat soups, and drink plenty of water to keep hydrated.
- Inhaling the smell of eucalyptus can soothe your respiratory system.
- Adding garlic to your diet increases antibacterial action and builds your immune system to fight infection.
- Honey can relieve sore throats and coughs.
- Ginger made into tea is considered both an antiseptic and expectorant.
- Echinacea and olive leaf can strengthen the immune system and shorten the bout of flu or cold.
Remember if at all possible to reduce your stress and to get enough sleep since it boosts your immune systems and allows you time to heal.
Here’s to your excellent health!
by Cynthia Bischoff | Nov 29, 2014 | Heartliving
On rare occasion, less often than perhaps I wish, I live in perfect harmony with the universe. I feel connected with all around me, paying attention to signs and synchronicities that show me that I am protected and guided for by universal flow. This, I believe, is a reflection of the presence of love in my life.
When we allow ourselves to stop resisting what is around us (our reality) and we move into a greater state of peace, we become more open to love’s power and to love’s potential. We are better able to respond rather than to react, especially with others, and to let go of rigid positions in our thinking, overall being less judgmental in our relationships and more generous with giving and receiving love.
Many people think of love as an ideal feeling that they wish to have more of in their lives. One way to have more love is to cultivate a feeling of generosity in your life, allowing you to give love more freely. Some people believe that generosity is something they would do only after having all that they need for themselves. Actually, it is the opposite of that. For example, in the words of St. John of the Cross: “If there is no love between you, pour in love and you shall draw out love.”
If you wish to be heard, you can listen generously. If you wish to be understood, you can seek to understand. If you wish to be noticed, you can extend yourself to be more present.
It is the love we give away that creates the love we keep.
