Falling into Autumn

Autumn is my favorite season of all!  As we get our comfy sweaters ready to wear and our cozy throws appear on our beds and couches, we still enjoy a few more warmer afternoons, before the chill of the nights settle in.  I love days like today when you can feel a slight crispness to the air, you can hear the crunch of leaves under your shoes as you walk and you can smell the leaves as they transition from tree limb to forest floor...  Deep inhale...  Mmmm, Ahhhhhh...

As the trees and flowers begin to shed their summer wardrobe, we too should choose to shed what no longer serves us.  Who needs to wait until spring for said "Spring cleaning"?  Hmm?  I say each season we need a good cleanse!

My husband and I call it the Purge, and no, not the thriller movie kind of purge, but a cleansing for the mind, body and soul kind of purge.  When we are surrounded by too many "things" - especially things we no longer find valuable, or things that are no longer of use to us, we choose to be surrounded by stagnant energy.  Stagnant energy will bring us down, even make us sick.  Think of it this way...  Would we choose to move to a city that has extremely poor air quality and we are surrounded by smog every day?  Well, that's not preferable, correct?  So why would we choose to surround ourselves with stagnant energy that effects us literally on every level.

Take a weekend, or even just an afternoon to choose to go through one area of your home or office.*  There should be four distinct categories.  1.  You use every day - so you keep close by.  2.  You use every so often, and when you need it, you want it close by. (this one you need to be very careful of, as it could be a very slippery slope!*)  3.  You no longer need or use, but someone else may - here is the beginning of your donate pile and then of course 4.  Trash it!

We try to recycle as much as we can, but let's face it, sometimes it's just junk!  And that's ok.  Let it go.  I love donating items that I once loved and think now someone else will get to love it as much as I did.  It's a very heart warming feeling to think you don't need to keep everything or have everything in order to be happy.  Why?  Because happiness begins on the inside - right?  And if we are looking to outside influences in order to make/keep us happy...  when those things are no more, or go away - so does our happiness.  Not a healthy plan.  However, if we start with a happy, loving and balanced heart, we find we no longer need to hold onto everything we ever loved in order to maintain happiness.**  Yes, it is indeed, very freeing.

My husband and I purge often.  It is very healthy and, may I even add, necessary in order for us to live healthy and fulfilled lives**.  The first time may be the toughest, but then as you master the art of living simply, you recognize right away, if something needs to stay, or if it needs to go.

Happy purging!
Be Well,
Mary-Anne

*If you have trouble on where or how to begin, there are folks that can help you...  like Carleen - the Clutter Doctor!

**If you want more information on how to create a more healthy & fulfilled life with a happy, loving and balanced heart, email me for a free consult!  :)

Getting out of your own way...

Please join Mary-Anne Tuesday, July 20th @ 12Noon as she offers this free workshop through JGS Lifecare.  RSVP to mschelb@JGSLifecare.org or call 413-935-1791.  

 

 

This guy...

Who is he?  Ant DeMario
What does he do?  Strategy sessions for Tony Robbins
Where will he be?  Presenting to the IC (Intentional Calm) Community
When will he be there?  Tuesday, May 4th
What time do you need to be there? 7-8:30PM

Please join us!


Intentional Calm is very excited to be partnering up with Tony Robbins for this unique opportunity.  This presentation is a follow up to the IC 30-day Challenge and a kick off to the upcoming IC-Mini Series beginning May 11th.  This past year has been trying for all of us.  We all need something to look forward to, something to strive for, something to get us back on track.  Whether you are enrolled in life  coaching from Intentional Calm or Tony Robbins, as I tell all my clients... always take steps that move you closer to achieving your dreams - even if sometimes those steps are small - even baby steps move you forward...

This event is completely virtual and available to anyone connected to the IC (Intentional Calm) Community @ n/c!
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ANT IS A TEDx ALUM SPEAKER, A LEADER IN TRANSFORMING PEOPLE & CULTURE AND ONE OF SIX HAND-SELECTED PEAK PERFORMANCE STRATEGISTS & NATIONAL SPEAKERS WHO HAS BEEN COACHED AND TRAINED BY TONY ROBBINS TO HELP PEOPLE BREAKTHROUGH AND CREATE LIFE ON THEIR TERMS. HIS PASSIONATE APPROACH, INEFFABLE WISDOM, UNSTOPPABLE MINDSET, INFECTIOUS PRESENCE, TRAINING OBSESSION, AND DYNAMIC SPEAKING STYLE BLENDS WELL FOR CREATING A POWERFUL EXPERIENCE.

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This Seminar is offered to you to demonstrate the impact that Ant will have on our IC Community's mindset, focus, and productivity. Tony Robbins is covering all the expenses related to this seminar. This interactive and empowering session is designed to provide our IC Community with strategies we can use immediately to measurably enhance our professional and personal lives. At the end of the seminar, Ant will introduce the upcoming Tony Robbins Unleash the Power Within Program and offer the IC community an opportunity to enroll in the most dynamic and life changing experience ever!

REGISTER HERE:  https://events.blackthorn.io/en/80dgRC6/intentional-calm-tony-robbins-discover-your-next-level-with-ant-demario-5a8U2H21fmK/overview

Contact:  Anthony DeMario - anthony.demario @tonyrobbins.com

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Contact:  Mary-Anne Schelb - wellness1111 @gmail.com 

Thank you for following Intentional Calm.  We will offer more beneficial workshops such as this in the future, so be sure to stay tuned.

Reach out to Mary-Anne directly if you have any questions regarding Intentional Calm, Holistic Life Coaching, the May 4th event or the upcoming IC-Mini Series.

Thank you & Be well,

Intentional Calm (IC)

<3

Spring is in the air!

This year, more so than in years past, we all truly have thee worst case of cabin fever, ever!  The temperature is rising, the sun is feeling warmer, and we want out!

Spring is the best time for new beginnings.  A great time to start a new pattern or habit.  We have attempted this January 1st with our new year's resolutions, and then find we start to fizzle out.  In the spring, we once again feel the urge to begin again.  We feel very inspired as we watch the buds appear on the trees and the flowers begin to bloom.  We relate.  We, like the crocus, feel as though we have been buried long enough, and we are ready to sprout from under the rubble, to breakthrough!  We want to stretch and reach for the sun!  Admit it, just then, you wanted to stretch your arms to the sky.  You are already feeling larger than life!  It's in the air! 

Now, the question is, what do we do with this new found energy?  How are we going to funnel the energy in order to feel inspired and create our best year ever.  We want to grow, we want to succeed and we want the feeling to last!  Are we taking the necessary steps to get there?  Are we focusing on the positive vs. the negative?  Are we coming into situations with a 'glass half full' approach?  Our thoughts matter!  

A friend, in conversation, reminded me...  "the story we rehearse, we become".  It literally felt like a slap upside the head.  And for the situation I was referring to at the time, I needed that said slap!  He, and now I, say with the utmost compassion, knowing we can make excuses all day long every day; but keep this in mind-  The energy we put forth becomes our thoughts.  Our thoughts then become our words and the story we tell both ourselves as well as others, and the energy continues to become the life we lead, laying the foundation for our future.  

The energy we create leads us down a given path...

Will your path be that of light?  Or that of darkness.  The choice is yours!

With love & light,
Mary-Anne
Be Well.

(BONUS - If you are interested in Holistic Life Coaching with Intentional Calm and mention this article you will receive 25% off any coaching package.  Email wellness1111 @gmail.com and put #SPRINGISINTHEAIR in the Subject line for details)

The luck of the Irish!

This week we will be celebrating the luck of the Irish.  Let's talk about that, shall we?  Where did that saying come from anyways?  The little green leprechaun at the end of the rainbow?  Actually, no. 

Ironically enough, the phrase did not originate from the Irish at all, but has more of an American flair.  

According to Edward T. O’Donnell, an Associate Professor of History at Holy Cross College and author of "1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish American History," the term is not Irish in origin. 

"During the gold and silver rush years in the second half of the 19th century, a number of the most famous and successful miners were of Irish and Irish American birth....Over time this association of the Irish with mining fortunes led to the expression 'luck of the Irish.'

"Of course, it carried with it a certain tone of derision, as if to say, only by sheer luck, as opposed to brains, could these fools succeed."  Read full article here. 

So, with that said, let's talk about this word "Luck" and who feel they have it, and who feel they do not.  I say we make our own luck!  Yeh, I know...  Allot of you reading this are saying that life is a series of events called fate.  The 'book of us' already written - chapter by chapter spelling out our lives.  I am not sure I agree.  As much as I do agree there may be a certain level of 'fate' as well as happenstance we carry with us from one lifetime to another, I feel we are faced with decisions every minute of every day that intervene with this said 'fate'.

I am all about creating my own reality and teaching others to do the same!  I strongly feel that you are in this 110% and you create your own path.  Every day we make choices that lead us up one path or down another.

I find there are folks out there, afraid to make any decision at all, frozen in fear, not knowing if the decision they make will be the right one or not. "What if I make the wrong decision?" they ask.  I say - Perfect!  How else are we suppose to learn?  It is ok to make a wrong turn.  That is, of course, how we pave the way for others, find new roads, wander off the beaten path.  If we never explored, our life would be fairly boring.  Same 'ole.  Same 'ole.  No. Thank. You.

I was on a webinar a week or two ago, on "Leading by Disruption" and I thought, yep - that's me.  Upsetting the applecart all day long. LOL  Read great article here.  I feel that to live the status quo, albeit fine for some, is not enough for most.

We need to feel alive!  We need to feel as though we are making a difference.  I say - if you are not feeling that spark, find it!  If you are not feeling that fire burning, light it!  Make it happen!  You have what it takes to make a difference!  It just may not be where you expect to find it.  The choice is yours, and the choices?  Endless.

I have written about positive attracting positive as well as negative attracting negative for years.  In the same token, we can draw to us the energy in which we emit -  bringing it full circle.  I tell my coaching clients all the time...  Be Clear in your thoughts.  Be clear with your intentions.  My tag line for some time now has been "Pure Intentions.  Positive Results."

Luck as well as life is what you make of it.  Your glass can be half empty or it can be half full.  Same glass.  It is all about perception.  Your approach to everything will have a positive or negative connotation - that is all up to you.

I remember a dear friend of mine many moons ago, used to tell me how "lucky" I was.  I was like "What do you mean, lucky?  I work really hard to have the life I have.  Things do not just come to me, I go get them!"  She looked puzzled.  I worked with her on positivity, perception and the glass half-full approach to life.  Years later, we were talking and she reminded me of the conversations we had and she said to me...  "You were right.  I tried what you said.  It worked.  I have a really good life now too.  Thank you!"

How would you like to see your luck turn?  Because, as much as there is good luck, yep - you guessed it, there is bad luck as well.  Choose wisely.

Posted by Intentional Calm.

Mary-Anne  works a 9-5 in Healthcare and finds her nights and weekends filled with assisting others on their path.  A path of disruption.  A path they want to redirect.  She assists clients to, as she says, "get out of their own way".  Guiding them to create their own path to attainable hopes and dreams.  If you or anyone you know could use a little - well, disruption; reach out to Mary-Anne and she can help you pave the way. 

Intentional Calm’s 30-Day Challenge

 

 Happy Valentine’s Day!

Intentional Calm wants you to do something for yourself today!!  IC is offering its 30-Day Challenge (a $500 Value) for a very limited time – at no charge to you!!  You have to register by Feb 28^th – that’s two weeks (14 days) to take advantage of this amazing offer!!  Email wellness1111 @gmail.com (put “30-Day Challenge” in the Subject line) or call 413.250.0455 to register.

We will meet via ZOOM on Tuesdays in March at 7PM.  ZOOM Link will be forwarded to you once you register.  Class begins promptly at 7PM, this gives you plenty of time to get home from work and/or get the kids situated.  Classes will range from 45–90 minutes, but no longer.  You will still have time to relax before turning in for the night, which is something important we will discuss.

·        March 2^nd – Intro – 5 Tuesdays in March gives us an extra week to have a quick overview of what we will be looking to accomplish by month end.

·        March 9^th – MIND – Mental and emotional well-being.

·        March 16^th – BODY – Physical health, nutritional health – even financial health plays a role.

·        March 23^rd – SPIRIT – Our connection to all that is.

·        March 30^th – Recap – What are your take-aways?  What are your executables to make this work going forward?

You are being offered a very unique opportunity.  A 30 Day Challenge with a ‘COVID concession’ waiving the normal $500 fee due to the unprecedented situation we are currently finding ourselves in due to the pandemic.  Some of you have lost loved ones, some of you have lost jobs, some days are just plain ole hard.   IC recognizes the need and wants to give back to their community!

So…  What are you waiting for??  Email or call now!  😊

Kindly,

Intentional Calm

One month in and we are here to celebrate the month dedicated to Love.

It's February.  We are one month into 2021, the days are slightly longer and the vaccines are being distributed.  We are beginning to see the light at the end of that proverbial tunnel.  We are on the right track and this month we celebrate ...Love!

February has always been a month to celebrate your special someone.  Well, at least the day as we know it today; Valentine's day has a somewhat dark origin however.  Thankfully, we had Chaucer and Shakespeare to help romanticize the day, as well as Hallmark helped it gain popularity and of course, the rest is history.  If you would like to explore a little history on Valentine's Day - check out the NPR article here.

 So...  What is love? You could love your spouse, you could love your child, you could love your pets, you could love a best friend, you could love your job, and if you are lucky enough, you have realized how to love the most important person in your world...  You!  There are different types of love, but this one is the most important love affair we will ever have.  And to think some of us won't even give themselves a chance.  Let's measure how much we can love ourselves...

You love yourself enough to... fill in the blank here.  i.e. I love myself enough to eat healthy foods.  I love myself enough to make time for exercise.  I love myself enough to accomplish the goals I have set forth in front of me.  Have you ever taken yourself on a date?  Yes! YOU!  Just you!  A movie?  Dinner?  Maybe a simple cup of coffee with a good book and a Starbucks within Barnes & Noble will tickle your fancy.  Let's ask a question:  What have you done for yourself lately?  Some people will tell you that is being selfish.  I would tell those same people it is not being selfish, on the contrary, it is self preservation!  I am not telling you to go and spend all your money on yourself and your family goes without necessities, I am simply stating you need to be sure you are balancing how much of yourself you give away vs. how much of your time you allow to nurture yourself.  

So how far can we take it?  I love myself enough to allow myself a good laugh, sometimes at myself.  Sometimes we take ourselves so seriously we miss out on things that may be right in front of us, allowing us to simply enjoy life.  We are too busy criticizing ourselves, telling ourselves we are not good enough, we are too fat/too skinny, we are not confident enough, we are not as pretty as (fill in blank here) or we don't deserve to be happy (or that is another instance where you can fill in the blank there) - you don't feel you deserve...  (what?).  What is holding you back?  We need to learn to lighten up a bit in order to allow time to enjoy ourselves, laugh a little, and have fun.  We need to know that we are perfect human beings, no matter what we feel our "faults" are.  We are exactly who we are supposed to be in every moment of our beautiful lives.  

With that said, what does fun mean to you?  It will be different for everyone.  Fun does not have to be big and expensive, keep it simple.  Watching the sunset, or maybe the sunrise.  Spending time doing a hobby you haven't spent time on in a while.  i.e. painting, journaling, reading, what about taking a nice relaxing bath.  What about going for a long walk.  Where do you live?  Is there a safe place to walk right near you?  Maybe a hike?  A park possibly, what about walking around your own neighborhood?  Walking gives you more time to appreciate your surroundings.  Test it out.  Drive down a street, and see what you notice, now walk down that very same street, what did you notice?  The same?  or more?  My guess will be more.  Yes, I have done that test many times.  It's... fun!  Now - those who know me know I am all for a drive, but we are moving so fast sometimes, we miss out on certain things, we miss the simple things; and 'Life's Simple Pleasure's' are so easily overlooked.  A walk around your neighborhood allows you to meet your neighbors - this could become a lifelong friend, you never know.  Choose one thing right now you would like to accomplish that will bring a smile to your face!  

So, we talked about loving yourself and making sure you are nurturing yourself.  There were takeaways from the post, did you jot them down?  Peruse the post again and take notice.  Take the time to notice.  Take the time to honour yourself.  Slow down enough to smell those roses (hopefully one you have bought yourself! ;)

I hope you are home and safe through today's Nor'easter!  I hope you have a loving February, and foster the relationship you have with yourself!  And most importantly, I hope you are having fun!

STAY TUNED:  In March - to celebrate Spring - and all things new...  We will be scheduling a 'Be Well (group) Coaching Session'.  Details to follow.

Be Well,
Mary-Anne