by Cynthia Bischoff | Jul 5, 2014 | Heartliving
Social Media is a buzz this week over PepsiCo CEO Indra K. Nooyi’s interview and statements that working women “can’t have it all.” Reading her comments made me reflect on my experience and journey as a working mother and business woman. I personally do not think it’s an issue of “having it all”! That ends up being a win/lose concept. How can we have all of anything in life? Instead, being an excellent mother doesn’t depend upon whether you’re working or not working outside the home. Some “at home” mothers may not be effective simply because they are present physically. To me, it is a way in which you approach mothering and your family.
I have known many highly effective working mothers as well as non-working mothers in my life. I am a grandmother now, still working full-time, and have raised two wonderful kids. I was a single parent during part of my life, but I always worked full time, even running my own business. Whether a mother is working or not working doesn’t make her a successful mother. What I realize is that how you “show up” as a mother is key to establishing and maintaining healthy relationships with your children. Here are my ingredients to achieving success:
- Be True to Yourself! No matter what your situation, do what you love and create a life that you want to live and to share with your kids.
- Take Good Care of Yourself! A physically, mentally, and spiritually healthy you will make you a much better Mom.
- Don’t Strive for Perfection! It becomes a way to inhabit an imaginary world. Nothing is ever perfect and yet everything already is.
- Be the Best Version of You Each Day! When you do your best which can vary any given day, let go of feeling guilty. Don’t do that to yourself. It’ll just zap your energy.
- Be Present! Working or not working, really BE THERE for your children in the best way you can—most of all, listen to them.
- Easy Does It! Don’t push yourself or your kids too hard, especially if you’re an over-achiever. It doesn’t always lead to a happier life for you or them.
- Teach Life Skills! Teach your kids to be self-reliant because it’s not what you give them, it’s what you TEACH them that matters.
- Have Fun! Relax with your kids. Let yourself be silly so they know life doesn’t have to be so serious.
And most of all, Love Them with All Your Heart!
– Cynthia
by Cynthia Bischoff | Jun 25, 2014 | Heartliving
I am so excited to announce my newest venture—Heartliving BootCamp for Women–a weekend intensive program to be held on October 24-26, 2014, at the Virginia Beach Resort Hotel & Conference Center on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!
This weekend program which begins on Friday evening (6-9:00), Saturday (9:00-5:00), and Sunday (9:00-3:00) will capture the very best of my Heartliving philosophy and teaching—sharing over 50 of my Heartliving principles through a method of exciting lecture and slides, discussion, and experiential exercises to help you:
· Explore your current life situation
· Challenge your perceptions
· Understand the “hero’s journey” and where you are on it
· Unlearn behaviors that do not serve you
· Move through your fears
· Reframe your circumstances
· Identify what creates limitations and how to overcome them
· Release judgments and practice forgiveness
· Create greater balance of body, mind, and spirit
· Develop your power and explore your purpose
· Learn to hold a witness viewpoint
· Understand the power of ritual
· Take action to improve your life
· And much more!
Conference space is limited and seats are filling up quickly. To learn more and to register for this incredible weekend, click here: Heartliving BootCamp.
by Cynthia Bischoff | Jun 21, 2014 | Heartliving
The following poem has always been one of my favorites.
Autobiography in Five Short Chapters
by Portia Nelson
Chapter 1
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost. . . .I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
Chapter 2
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in the same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
Chapter 3
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in. . . .It’s a habit.
My eyes are open. I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
Chapter 4
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
Chapter 5
I walk down another street.
by Cynthia Bischoff | Jun 14, 2014 | Heartliving
The word “synchronicity” was coined by Carl Jung, famous Swiss Psychiatrist, to mean “meaningful coincidence.” For example, you need a service and two people mention the same provider, unsolicited, in one day. You’ve been thinking about calling a person and you suddenly see him or her while running errands.
Our lives have a narrative structure, and synchronistic events often reflect turning points and directional arrows in our narrative. They can also indicate that we are in a state of “flow,” and synchronicities have been referred to as the “angel’s way” of speaking with us.
When we are in a challenging place in our lives and without actively seeking support, we may find that help arrives in the form of an accidental sequence of events which occurs exactly as we need in order to assist us in moving through a circumstance or event.
People often report the following synchronicities:
- It is common for telephones, addresses, and wrong numbers to crop up in many stories so that individuals may connect.
- Synchronistic events are almost always present for two people to meet the first time or an important subsequent time.
- It is considered synchronistic when seeming bad luck turns out to have a positive significance.
- Sometimes something will delay you, and the delay leads to a more fortunate outcome.
- The more obstinate we become about the way we think something “should” be, the more likely synchronicities will come to speak to us.
- The kind of child we have is always synchronistic–sometimes making parents confront their own shadows, develop their own strengths, and so on.
Most important, if we pay attention to the meaningful coincidences in our lives, we can question their significance. Are they directional messages, are they action-oriented, are they symbolic?
When an extraordinary, meaningful occurrence has significance for us, we should question how we might let it guide or change our story.
by Cynthia Bischoff | Jun 8, 2014 | Heartliving
My new eBook, Healing Yourself Through Mind-Body Awareness, offers new insights into the relationship of the body and the mind in terms of disease and healing. Views about the body are explored in an attempt to understand why certain physical issues might present and how the body can be considered an out-picturing of the mind. I share ideas from Eastern philosophy of the body-mind, energy medicine, as well my own interesting ideas from my energy medicine practice of 16 years, both in the U.S. and abroad. The body and health in general are arenas in which we can learn a great deal about ourselves and about the world.
Competitively priced at $3.99, this eBook is 24 pages and is non-refundable. Ready to purchase, Click Store.
Stay tuned for other exciting and insightful eBooks, videos and course offerings!
