Why Personal Change Matters

And My Vision for Ignite Wellness

Welcome! I'd like to address the topic of personal change and my vision for Ignite Wellness. I created Ignite Wellness as a beacon for change.

The holistic modalities I integrate help us heal, grow, and thrive. They help us through times of disruption and help us initiate positive change within ourselves.

To put it simply, I started Ignite Wellness because I care about affecting change on a personal level.

I am a dreamer, but I assure you that I dream with my feet firmly grounded on this Earth. Dreams stay dreams if there is no action. An approach is only good when it's useful to the person who’s applying it. Days are busy and everyone has very real issues they are grappling with. This is exactly why I’m here.

To those who are unfamiliar, yoga therapy, integrative hypnosis, and energy healing can seem “woo-woo”, subtle, intangible, or hard to grasp. I intend to make them simple, accessible, practical, and address real issues you’re dealing with. That’s why I do thorough consultations, use evidence-based approaches, and personalize wellness sessions specifically for you. In later posts, I’ll highlight how yoga therapy, integrative hypnosis, and energy work help with healing and change.

Because to heal is to change. If we change the way we move, breathe, think, and feel, we can change our lives.

Why change? I have a fundamental belief that each person matters. Everyone has inherent value, unique gifts, and personal power. Every single person contributes something that impacts the world, and can do it like no other.

Yet, I don’t know that we’re all living the life that is the fullest expression of our truest selves, one that makes us truly feel joyful, healthy, fulfilled, empowered, and lit up from the inside out.

Now, I know not everyone feels this way, but plenty of us reach a point where we're just going through the motions of life. It’s drudgery. It’s filled with “have tos” and “shoulds”. It’s literally dragging ourselves out of bed in the morning to go to a job that’s barely tolerable. It’s living for the weekends. It’s feeling trapped in a relationship, but feeling powerless to get out. It’s waking up in physical, mental, or emotional pain  everyday, with no ways to help beyond meds. It’s the sleep disruption from PTSD flashbacks, and frustration that the brain will not shut up. It’s chronic fatigue, anxiety, and the countless other symptoms or conditions that keep us from the things we want to do. It's numbing and all sorts of coping mechanisms to make life bearable. It’s the opinions and judgments of loved ones that we give so much weight to, that it prevents us from expressing our truest selves. 

Wouldn’t it be nice to live differently? To live the life we’re truly meant to live, because we know exactly what lights us up and dared to go after it? To be diagnosed with chronic illnesses AND still thrive? This is not some pipe dream. This is real and it can be created a step at a time from the inside out.

When you initiate positive change from within, and uproot what no longer works, the outside world changes with you. In small one-degree shifts that not only add up, but also compound.

You don’t have to make drastic changes in your life to get started. You just need to be curious and willing to take a step at a time. I’m talking like, really small shifts. Putting water and vitamins by the door to remember to take them. Saying no as a complete sentence. Keeping and honoring commitments. Being punctual. I did a bunch of little things just like this, in tiny increments, until somehow, today, I’m a lot different than I once was.  

On the outside, I lead a pretty ordinary life. I wake up and get my son off to school. I do everyday chores, run errands, and go to medical visits. I learn and I teach. I'm in a long-distance marriage where I solo parent 50% of the time. I help when my mom needs me. I spend time with friends, relatives, and in-laws. I'm an expat, and sometimes I still feel like an outsider. However, plain it looks from the outside, I love my life. I took an active part in shaping it. I'm continuing to shape it, to peel away "not me-ness" so that I can continue to evolve. It's such a freeing way to live. I love that I can now find magic in everyday life.

How we think and feel about our lives is more important than how it looks from the outside.

I think sometimes because we can only see the very first tiny step in front of us, we forget that it matters. That step is everything. So is each one after it. We see evidence of this everyday. It’s just that we’re dazzled by end results, and forget that the results were only possible because of everything that came before it.

You are worthy, and change is worth it. So that you can heal, grow, and thrive.

But, I have even bigger reasons why.

Our individual mindset, values, and attitudes not only affect ourselves, but also ripple outward to our families, social networks, and the rest of the world. How we are as individuals has an impact on the whole.

There are real stakes here. What is culture, if not the mindset, actions, values, and behaviors that many individuals agreed are acceptable and then became our shared norms and standards?

What kind of leaders are in office today? Are they not a representation of the individuals who voted for them, who as a collective share a certain type of mindset or exhibit certain behaviors that underlie a series of decisions that led to those outcomes?

And when we think about the leaders of today, do you think they’re all making high stakes decisions with wisdom, self-awareness, and updated mental models? Do you think the people that advise or support them are making everyday decisions – as a parent, as a friend, as a colleague, and so on - with wisdom, self-awareness, and updated mental models? Do you think you and I are? I sure hope so because our lives are shaped by our decisions, big and small. 

I don’t want to get into a political discussion or pick sides. It shouldn’t be about sides to begin with, but somehow the world is in a very “us vs. them” place. I want our world leaders to do better. Maybe you agree. If we ask that of them, we should examine how we can best help them do better, by doing better ourselves, in the way that reflects our gifts, skills, and station in life. We are all connected. We know this. When we zoom out far enough, we’re all on the same team. It concerns me that we seem to forget that we’re all humans having very human experiences, living on the same Earth.

I care about what kind of world we’re creating for the next generation. Like it or not, we’re all in this together. And whether we see it or not, the state of the world is a reflection of everyone that’s in it. We all participate through passive and active means.

If we’re not doing self-care when the stakes are low:

• practice self-awareness
• sense and process how we feel
• examine our mindset, beliefs, and habits 
• assess and raise our emotional/energetic baseline 

how can we do the big things, and do them wisely, with discernment, clarity, and the greater good in mind when the stakes are high?

We update apps all the time; how often do we run updates on ourselves? 

Not all of us are in high-stake positions, but we all have personal power. We all have the ability to influence one another. Think about how someone’s smile or a simple compliment can make a crappy morning better. Think about whether you scold a child for a mistake or praise them for trying. It matters.

Sometimes situations in life make us feel powerless. That’s the best time to start recharging that power source within. We all have it. We just need to tap into it. Someone with true power doesn’t have to prove that they have it, take away rights from people, or exclude others. 

I think you would also agree that we’re living in a fast-paced world. I support advancement in all fields, and I marvel at what we can do. However, there are costs, and we could use better solutions to mitigate them. It’s costing us our mental health in the form of disconnection, anxiety, stress, and burnout. We’re increasingly connected to our devices, and less so to ourselves and the people we love. We’re bombarded with input, so we’re distracted or trying to do a million things at once. Think of the impact of all of that has on our patience, our ability to listen, appreciate nuance, and relate to others. Think about how fried our nervous systems are. We are “ON” nearly all the time, and it’s costing us dearly.

A fast-paced world equates to fast-paced change. Are our mind, bodies, and spirits keeping up?

I don’t wish that the world slows down. In fact, I want to rise to the occasion. I want to use what I know to elevate the holistic wellness profession so we can meet change with ease to heal, grow, and thrive. It's about breadth AND depth of knowledge across multiple disciplines. That's why I'm integrating the modalities I know best, along with what I learn from other fields.  

I see Ignite Wellness bringing some balance back into the picture, not just within ourselves, but in the world. My humble contribution to counter fear, divisiveness, and intolerance. To meet darkness with light.

I want more of us to have a mindset or belief system that is expansive, inclusive, abundant, and embraces the evolution of humanity. I want more of us to feel empowered and live the life we dream for ourselves and our loved ones. I want more of us to be self-aware, make wise choices, be authentic, and apply our gifts/skills to what we can do best. To let go of all the limitations that hold us back and keep us stuck. This is the way to progress. What I see now in the world is fear. Resistance to change. Signs of regression. 

I wasn't a person that took big risks. I was checked out. Forget about authenticity, I had no idea who I was. I wasn't willing or able to live a wholehearted life. I wasn't always the way I am now. I practiced and trained myself to be this way. 

It starts with looking inward and taking care of our mind, bodies, and spirits.

So there it is. That’s the bigger picture of what I’d like to accomplish.

Over the years, I noticed overlap and connections between holistic modalities that I believe can create positive change in ourselves, for those who choose it. Along my own journey, I’ve discovered that this is what I can do best. 

Is this a lofty pursuit? Maybe. Is it worth doing? Absolutely. Because when we aim high, we get farther than we would otherwise.

I refuse to be cynical, even when the state of the world and some of my past experiences give me reason to. I refuse to blame anyone or anything – it’s a waste of valuable time and energy. I refuse to be judgmental - I believe we don’t need anyone’s validation or permission to live the life we deeply want to live.

I have a compelling vision that gives me life energy. It moves me forward. I hope it inspires you to ask yourself, "what’s a compelling vision for my life?" The purpose of setting a big, audacious goal is not to worry about failing; it’s to feel something within us, and think, “wow, I wonder how far I’ll go.” Instead of “what if I fail,” think “what if I succeed?”

There is no failure in living a wholehearted life.

A big vision doesn’t have to mean big steps. It's not everything all at once. Tiny steps are fine. Breaks and detours along the way are fine. In fact, it’s great to stop and smell the roses! The joy is in the journey. Sometimes in this line of work, I see myself as a bit of a tour guide. You tell me where you want to go, and I walk with you. I point out some sights you may not have noticed along the way, and we take some time to explore.

So what do you truly want? Who are you really, if only you felt free and safe enough to be your authentic self? One step in front of the other is truly all you need. If you're walking your own path, it's normal not to be able to see beyond the first step. I’m just taking one step forward at a time too. We take a step and adjust as we go. In the world we're in today, it pays to be open-minded and flexible.

If you even hear the slightest whisper within you, or feel a little twinge of desire for some sort of change – whether it’s experiencing less pain, getting better sleep, healing old wounds, leaving/starting a relationship, processing grief, making an international move, starting a new career, living with less stress, getting unstuck – I created Ignite Wellness with you in mind. 

Cherish your life. Live it fully, live it joyfully, live it expansively.