Have you felt the unease I’ve noticed in the past few days of current world events? I couldn’t put my finger on it. Suddenly, I was feeling off, down, a little anxious, ungrounded. I was feeling great on Tuesday, 2.22.2022. Then, Thursday morning, a wave of anxiety washed over me, learning about the Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Today, I’m digging deeper into my natural wellbeing. I feel the best contribution I can make is staying grounded and in the flow of wellbeing for all. I focused on my body rhythm to be fully present in the now moment. I felt deeply into the inner glow of wellbeing within, under the layer of anxiety. I affirmed “I choose wellbeing anyway.” Then, I let go and allowed myself to feel uplifted and carried on the flow of wellbeing. Suddenly, I have my groove back. It was always there – on the other side of a veil.
What can you do to affirm wellbeing for all in solidarity with Ukrainians? Can you acknowledge the insanity and choose inner wellbeing for yourself anyway? Find your inner rhythm through movement: stretch, walk outside, move your body. Get quiet and feel where your heartbeat meets your breath. Listen deeply for what is yours to do. Then take the next right action.
I call that The Art of Jazz Living.
Would you like support practicing the Art of Jazz Living skills so you can toggle to your wellbeing more gracefully even when life feels tough? You’re invited to join our practice group, The Art of Jazz Living. The next session starts Tuesday March 1, 6:30-8pm Central time. Check out the course here:
In this Wellness Universe article, I share how we can all play with the skills of Jazz Living to make the world a more vibrant, brilliant, and joyful place.
Some days the best version of me is better than other days. My squirrel brain gets wrapped up trying to comprehend why some people live and others die. I don’t get it.
We point to variables like access to medical care, safe neighborhoods, privileges, and prayers. But that doesn’t explain the random stuff that happens out of the blue.
Prayer is a strong variable. I thought my mother’s prayers saved me from dying in a car crash when I was 20. But if prayer was a key variable, then 8-year-old Finn, who had an entire army of prayer warriors, wouldn’t have died in a car crash. Did Finn complete his life purpose at the age of 8?
We think going to a holiday parade sounds like a safe neighborhood activity. But some parade-goers were in the wrong place at the wrong time when a mentally unstable person drove into a crowd of people and caused multiple deaths.
Why does one senior citizen live through a major illness and another die from the same illness? Their immune system might be a variable. Why does a seemingly healthy person suddenly die of an aneurysm or a stroke? Have they completed their life purpose? To me, it’s a mystery.
We don’t know the variables at any given time that line up for one person to live and another die. We humans can’t comprehend the variables or guarantee the actions that create results we prefer.
I think the best we can do is be the best version of ourselves at any given time. Then, take the best actions we can. We don’t know which actions will make a difference for ourselves or for someone else. So, act as if every action matters.
Practice random acts of kindness. Be a blessing. Live in the vibration of gratitude.
Note to my squirrel brain: Then, let go of trying to control everything. There’s a bigger plan unfolding through us.
Father’s Day opens a can of worms for some people. Feelings of abandonment and unresolved issues resurface. This post is for people who want to find peace in their screwed up father relationships.
Some fortunate people had wonderful relationships with loving fathers. I was blessed with a father who loved, supported and encouraged his kids. I loved him dearly and still miss him daily. My father also screwed up – royally. He spent half of his adult life as an emotionally unavailable alcoholic – and then celebrated 29 years of sobriety when he died. He went bankrupt and lost the family home – and then rebuilt a comfortable retirement income which benefited his family. He cheated on his marriage more than once – and, due to my mother’s graciousness, my father rebuilt a loving relationship with her and his children.
Fathers screw up sometimes. We all screw up sometimes. Looking at my father’s life and screw ups with compassion gave me a new perspective into my own life and my own mistakes. My new awareness brought me peace with my father and with myself.
Fathers are people with unmet needs too – even those men whom we do not admire. Maybe they had abusive fathers themselves with no good role models in sight. Maybe they had unrealistic expectations of themselves and their abilities and therefore felt inadequate. Maybe our culture imposed unrealistic expectations on them.
One of the saddest things I have heard was from Brené Brown’s interview with a man who said his wife and children would rather see him die on his white horse than to see him fall down. Ouch.
Cheers to the men who fall down and get up again. And again. And again.
Cheers to the men who confront their inner demons and live to tell the tale. Because some men don’t make it through the rain. (Tribute to Barry Manilow) “I made it through the rain and found myself respected by the others who got rained on too, and made it through.”
I’m not letting anyone off the hook for screwing up, lying, cheating, stealing, or abusing and belittling someone to make themselves feel powerful. Abusing power is never ok. But each of us can choose whether to hold on to judgment of themselves and others. I encourage you to make amends now and make better choices next time.
It’s not too late to make amends, to write the letter, to make the phone call, to visit the person who longs to hear your voice saying they are loved. I screwed up and I still love you. Or you screwed up and I’m really pissed off, but I want to understand your perspective. Let’s talk.
If, for whatever reason, you’re not able to confront that father-child relationship in person, reach out energetically and spiritually. Write the letter and burn it. Say a prayer in your heart. Connect Soul to Soul and speak your piece to the wind. Then, let go and listen with your heart for the next step.
I specialize in helping people heal relationships at a spiritual level. Let me know if I can help. The higher perspective from a spiritual level brings clarity and inner peace – often this builds the bridge to outer peace.
Leah Skurdal is a Stress Resilience Coach and Energy Healer who helps people uplevel their stress response so they can uplevel their relationships with the people who matter.Reach out to her at leah.skurdal@gmail.com
The archer pulls the bow’s drawstring which creates tension or stress. You may have learned, as I did, that too much stress in your life contributes to a host of ailments and premature death. However, just as the archer harnesses stress to launch the arrow toward the target, you can learn to harness the energy of stress to propel you toward well-being.
In her TED talk, How to Make Stress Your Friend, health psychologist Kelly McGonigal, shared research that surprised me at first, although it makes intuitive sense. Researchers found people who learned to view their stress symptoms (like sweating and pounding heart) as helpful for their performance became less stressed out and less anxious. Not only that, but their blood vessels didn’t constrict in an unhealthful way and instead allowed blood to flow freely as if they were happy and brave.
I get it! How you respond to stress is what matters to your health and wellbeing and creates resilience!
In this lively and insightful workshop, I teach ways to respond to stress from your innate, inner wellbeing so you build resilience and harness the energy of stress to launch you forward in life.
You are invited to learn and practice Five Simple Strategies to Subdue Stress Call to schedule a session for your group.
Learn tools that harness the power of stress to launch you toward your target, like the archer pulling back the bow’s drawstring
Build your stress resilience muscles so you can turn changes and challenges into opportunities
Add a vitally important and often overlooked tool to your personal and professional toolkit to gain confidence in stressful situations
Learn proven stress management tools from a trained professional with 25 years of experience
Call Leah with Questions or to schedule this fun and informative workshop for your group. 651-472-3995
What untapped passion calls your heart to a Higher Purpose?
I have been resisting my calling for years – decades – because it sounds too weird, too scary and like a lot of work. But this calling keeps knocking at my heart. Listen!
The calling in my heart tells me to grow an oak savanna. Not a physical grove of trees (although I love oak trees) but a spiritual oak savanna.
In every acorn lives the promise of an oak savanna. Some acorns will get eaten by squirrels. Some acorns will sprout, grow into seedlings and be eaten by deer. Some seedlings will grow into oak trees that get cut down to make oak cabinets and door frames.
But some oak trees will produce more acorns, some of which will turn into food and fuel, some of which will grow into oak trees that produce more acorns – until an entire oak savanna covers the terrain providing food, shelter, and shade for plants, bugs, animals and humans.
All that promise in each acorn!
Are you an acorn ready to grow an oak savanna?
I’m looking for a few nuts like me.
Starting in January 2019, I am launching an “oak savanna training academy” – a sisterhood of change-makers and spiritual pioneers.
You might be one of them if life seems to get in the way of living your higher purpose.
You feel a calling to make a difference in the world – and you would do it if you didn’t have so many obligations, so many demands on your time, so many people asking you to do more.
Really! You will get to that calling when you have less stress and can better manage the things in front of you. When things slow down. When there are fewer distractions. When you feel less stressed out all the time.
Sorry to tell you. That is called LIFE. If not now, then when? The world is at the 11th hour right now and we need your gifts and talents!
I’m creating the Oak Savanna Training Academy for you to respond to the stress of life with your Higher Self! So you can bring your best self to the table. And I’m creating a format that can fit into your busy day so you feel less stressed while you are on track having a blast living your life on purpose.
During the 12-week online program, you will receive tools to:
Connect to your Higher Self during times of stress so you feel better faster
Practice self-forgiveness so you can return to self love more quickly when you make a mistake
Listen to another person’s Higher Self so you understand their motivation, release your judgment and improve your relationships
Keep your heart open so you can respond to conflict with compassion and not add to the drama around you
Hear the stillness under your mind chatter so you feel more inner peace
Align with the Divine expressing through you andas you so you feel greater joy and passion in your life
Message me if you would like to learn more about the Oak Savanna Training Academy. I can’t wait to get started! Leah
What kind of life do you want to be creating for yourself, your loved ones and the world around you?
We live in a challenging world in challenging times. You may notice people around you falling into despair. Some days it might feel like enough of a challenge to keep your own head above water without trying to hold others up from sinking beneath the surface too. Maybe your office environment gets snarky when co-workers feel stressed. Maybe your family members act out when they feel angry, sad or unloved.
It takes focus and determination to stay on track creating a world where you want to live – a world where you feel loved and appreciated. A world where the people around you are stable and joyful too.
So, how do you keep yourself stable enough to be a light in the dark for others – without extinguishing your own light in the process?
Practice the art of Spiritual Pilates to strengthen your inner spiritual core muscles so you can intentionally create the life you love and desire – a life where you show up as your best self and others contribute to your well-being rather than drag you down. Consistently practicing the skills of Spiritual Pilates leads to new levels of self-mastery.
Self-mastery does not mean that you never make mistakes or need to re-calibrate your vibrations to get back on track toward achieving your goals and dreams. Self-mastery is about how quickly you get back to center once you have gotten off track.
You are invited to join the Spiritual Pilates online community to practice skills leading to self-mastery.
In Spiritual Pilates, you learn skills to manage your subtle energy vibrations so that you can:
Get yourself out of a slump more quickly and feel better faster;
Respond to the ups and downs of life without feeling flustered when things don’t go as planned;
Improve the quality of your relationships and have more rewarding interactions with people;
Feel energized enough to make dinner at the end of the day;
Calm your mind chatter and stop making things worse for yourself;
Experience more God in your daily life and feel blessed moment to moment;
Shine your inner light more brightly so people around you can find their own path more easily.
The next session of Spiritual Pilates: On the Road to Self-Mastery begins November 13, 2018.
The live online workshop meets four Tuesdays, 7–8:00pm CT, 8-9:00ET, 6-7:00MT, 5-6:00PT November 13, 20, 27, December 4
Recordings available
Live and recorded Q&A Weekly
Meditations, homework
Two live 10-minute mid-day energy resets weekly
Closed Facebook group
In Spiritual Pilates we focus on physical, emotional, mental and spiritual energy vibrations and how to:
Week 1 – raise and sustain your physical energy vibration so you feel energized and not depleted;
Week 2 – work with emotional vibrations that stop you from moving forward so you can stay on track toward achieving your goals and desires;
Week 3 – assess whether your thoughts are in integrity with your intentions or keeping you stuck in old patterns of behavior;
Week 4 – align body, emotions, mind and spirit for optimal well-being so you are living your life on purpose and you feel fulfilled.
Check with your inner guidance to see if Spiritual Pilates resonates with you. Then, call or text me and let’s set up a time to chat about whether Spiritual Pilates is the next right step for you. Leah 651-472-3995.
With my 40th high school reunion looming ahead, (40?! Really?! How did that happen?!), another layer of my teenage angst is resurfacing for processing. (Really? Again? I thought I dealt with you already!)
A 40th reunion sounded old when I was 18. But, I don’t feel as old as a 40th reunion sounded then. I am experiencing PMZ— Post Menopausal Zest. I’m just getting started! We baby boomer women are the healthiest, wealthiest women the world has ever known. So let’s Rock It! Who’s in?!
To honor my 40th high school reunion, I am writing a letter to my 18-year-old self with some wisdom I have gleaned over the years. Maybe this resonates with your inner teenager. Maybe you have some wisdom to add.
Dear Teenage Self,
You turned out OK. There’s still the money, relationship, and health stuff to deal with, but that’s the stuff of life. You have the skills you need to manage life. You are wiser than you know and not as wise as you think.
In case you’re feeling a little anxious about whether you really do have the necessary skills to manage your life, please let me share a few insights that I have learned so far on this journey called life.
Pay attention to your wise inner voice. Call it whatever you like — Intuition, Soul’s wisdom, God tapping you on the shoulder. The still, quiet voice under the yapping voice of ego-mind will guide you when life gets stormy.
Balance the feminine and masculine energy within yourself first before trying to find that balance through a romantic relationship. Find a balance of receiving and giving, listening and expressing, resting and taking action. Sometimes it’s fun to get a little off-balance, but don’t create drama. Just get back in balance.
You are good enough. You always have been good enough. You always will be good enough. The ego on the outside makes mistakes and misses the mark. That’s OK. You fell down learning to walk and you will fall down learning to navigate life. Just pick yourself up, forgive yourself and others, then, move on.
Always remember, at the core of your being you are innately, infinitely good and worthy of love. Divinity — call it God, Spirit, Divine Spark — is inherent in every cell of your body. You are composed of atoms infused with divine substance. Your body is a holy temple of spirit.
You are a wave in the ocean of God. Don’t confuse the wave with the entire ocean.
Embrace your uniqueness. It’s OK to be different. Everyone in your class is unique and has their own gifts and talents. Explore and master your unique gifts and talents. You are here to share them with the world.
Don’t drink too much alcohol or smoke weed. It makes you look and act stupid.
Life is not all about you. Bless somebody’s life today.
Life is a paradox. It IS all about you. Set your inner compass to your North Star. What do you want to create? What kind of world do you want to live in? What are you contributing to the world? If you get off track from your North Star, self correct and get back on track with your divine purpose — the reason you came to this life.
That’s it. That’s enough to get started.
Tap into your inner wisdom. You are wiser than you know.
Oh, and, call your parents. They love you and miss you. You never know when you’ll have to borrow a car.
You manage stress relatively well. BUT WAIT! Isn’t there more to life? You want more joy! More fulfillment! More satisfaction! Yes! You can have more!
Accessthe deep inner reservoir within your Soul of INFINITE love, peace, joy, abundance, harmony, freedom and well-being.
But, how do you tap into that reservoir of peace within when the external environment is not peaceful?
You build your inner spiritual core muscles and reset your default at a higher vibrationthrough practicing
Spiritual Pilates: On the Road to Self-Mastery beginning October 9, 7:00-8:00pm (recordings available)
In the 4-week, online Spiritual Pilates workshop, you learn skills to respond to the stress of the life from your Higher Self so that you can:
feel calm when you arrive after driving through stressful rush hour traffic;
educate the rude co-worker about how you prefer to be treated rather than make the situation worse by dishing it back;
elegantly shift to Plan B when the dinner burns as the guests arrive.
You also learn to align with your higher energetic vibrations so you can:
connect to your personal power center and feel more grounded
access your Source of innate Well-Being within and feel deeper self-love
align ego-mind with Divine mind to transform negative thoughts into self-forgiveness.
Hi! I’m Leah Skurdal, author of Seeking Serenity: How to Find Your Inner Calm and Joy. For over 25 years, I have specialized in helping women experience more of what they DO want to create in their lives. Check in with your intuition about whether Spiritual Pilates is your next right step. Contact me at leah.skurdal@gmail.com and let’s chat.
“You set me back on track today. You are a great listener and fast on your feet! Hoping to practice more in the moment like this. I could have easily written off the rest of my day because I seemed to be scraping by, but it’s never too late to have a great day.” Spiritual Pilates Workshop Participant
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