Healthy Boomer Lifestyles

A Meeting Of The Hearts: The Dalai Lama And The Thirteen Grandmothers

A number of indigenous cultures have foretold a time when humanity, our future, and the earth itself were at stake--due to human folly. In a typical fairy tale, folk legend, and in our hopes and dreams, at such a time "a hero" would come forth to save us.

But suppose the hero wasn't a knight in shining armor, or all-seeing officers at an omnipotent military command central--no, suppose that the hero, or heroes, came from every corner of the earth, spoke eight languages and represented thirteen different traditions. Some traditions portray them as thirteen grandmothers, indigenous healers, called forth by dreams and prophecy to join together in prayer for the earth and its people.
 
There is in fact a counsel of thirteen elder wise women-- called the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers. They have circled the globe, meeting with the Dalai Lama, leading healing ceremonies and prayer circles in India, Nepal, the Amazon, Alaska, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Last week they came to New York City. On Friday night, the film, For the Next Seven Generations in which filmmaker Carole Hart documents their extraordinary work, made its New York debut at the Urban Zen Center, the welcoming downtown gathering place, founded by Donna Karan. Over the weekend, the Jivamukti Yoga Center hosted the grandmothers in two evenings of prayer and healing.

In welcoming the grandmothers to Urban Zen, Donna Karan revealed that, "To be able to celebrate this film and be with the Grandmothers is a dream come true for me. Urban Zen nurtures the wisdom of the past (in wisdom and indigenous traditions), the present (in health and wellbeing), and the future (through empowering our children). The Grandmothers remind us to celebrate the spirit of Mother Earth."

Alison Rose Levy
Health journalist, coach, and advocate,
Media Director, Friends of Health
Huffington Post

Embracing Your Divine Essence: A Group for Women in Change in Atlanta, GA

Monthly Group Starts Wednesday, October 28 - March 28, 2010 7:00-8:30 p.m.  
Are you ready to step into the next stage of your life?  This spiritual support group is for women 40 and older who are transitioning within their careers, relationships, aging processes, or spiritual paths. Our group will help women find ways to create a daily spiritual practice in meditation, prayer, sacred ritual and energy work. The group will discuss what is happening on the earth and why, and offer ways to manage the accelerated level of change that is occurring now which is manifested in each of our lives.

We will delve into questions such as:
• How can I live my entire life in alignment with my mind and spirit beliefs?
• How can I liberate myself from the patterns of my past so I can live fully in the moment?
• How can I let go of fear and doubt so I can live fearlessly?
• How can I contribute to the world?

This group will meet monthly at 275 13th Street, NE, Suite 502, Atlanta, GA 30309  The fee is $30 per month for the group session which is limited to 10 people. To participate, call 404-881-1322 ASAP to reserve your spot.

Now's the time to change your life!

 

Hi, I'm Joyce Dillon, RN, MN, founder of Healthy Living and Balance a coaching and personal development company and your leader for our Living Life To the Fullest Empowerment Retreat in Costa Rica, August 7-13, 2009.

For the past 20 years both nationally and abroad, I have been helping midlife men and women  who are experiencing major midlife change to discover how to transform their lives by helping them find their life purpose and how to identify their core belief patterns, and thoughts that are blocking their path to success.

If you are at a crossroads in your life and need to make a life change in your career, relationship, health  or spirit - we want to hear from you! Tell us your story and why you should join us for a week with a life and transformational coach in a small group setting - all in the magnificent beauty and surroundings of Costa Rica!

Now's our time to live life to the fullest … Click here to tell us your story and you  could join us in Costa Rica! Hurry, contest ends on 4/30/09. To learn more about
the trip go to www.lifeempowermentretreats.com or call 404-881-1322.

I hope to see you in Costa Rica in August….

Wake-Up Call: It’s Time to Change

“It is not enough to just verbalize or visualize your goals. You must have a plan and take steps to create what you want.”

Have you had a wake-up call recently, such as an unexpected health crisis, a separation or divorce, or the loss of your job? Perhaps you just feel stuck or restless? Are you yearning for change?

These situations and emotions come with midlife, and this transition can be like falling down Alice’s rabbit hole: frightening, yet at the same time invigorating. Some people come out terrified while others are transformed. Some people renew their passion for a new life with gusto, and others ease along, making small but notable changes.

There is no right way or wrong way to transition through midlife. At some point, you may know you want to change your life, but you may have no idea where to begin and feel stuck. Yet, you simply have to do something!

It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you take some form of action! Do something to shift your life.

Get a new job, clean out your closets, retire a relationship that’s draining your energy, schedule your trek in the rain forest, move to a new city you love, join a group of like-minded boomers, volunteer to help people in another country, go back to school for fun or for a new career, take a dance class to learn to tango.

The unrest that occurs at this period is about sorting out and separating who you are becoming from who you have been. It is a time for deep introspection, and for exploring how you want to live this part of your life and how you want to become more authentically who you are.

Recommended Reading to Assist Midlife Transition

Marianne Williamson, Embracing the New Midlife: The Age of Miracle.

Midlife is not a crisis; it’s a time of rebirth. In our ability to rethink our lives lies our greatest power to change them. What we have called “middle age” need not be seen as a turning point toward death. It can be viewed as a magical turning point toward life as we’ve never known it, if we allow ourselves the power of an independent imagination—thought-forms that don’t flow in a perfunctory manner from ancient assumptions merely handed down to us, but rather flower into new archetypal images of a humanity just getting started at 45 or 50. Click here to order.

Gail Sheehy, Understanding Men's Passages: Discovering the New Map of Men's Lives

The years after 40 offer men a "second adulthood," declares Sheehy, a chance to reinvent themselves. But first they must shift from competing to connecting, from incessant striving for external rewards to a quest for inner fulfillment through meaningful pursuits, after determining what they really want of the second half of their lives. In a constructive, enlightening guide to self-discovery for men and their partners, the author of Passages and New Passages uses 100 male interviewees, case histories and medical and psychological research to probe men's feelings about death, spiritual hollowness, empty nest syndrome, separation anxieties, their envy of their empowered working wives, pre-retirement jitters and waning sexual potency. Click here to order.

Hello! Are You Listening to Your Life?

Hello, Are You Listening to Your Life?

--Are you yearning to make change in your life but find it overwhelming?
--Do you continue to work at a job that drains your very soul?
--Are you fearful of doing what you most desire to do?

Listen you will be told what to do.

There is always a particular moment when you clearly know you need to change your life. That desire for change is like a grain of sand in a shoe, imperceptible at first but grinding away until it becomes the only thing you notice. Your instinct is to dismiss the feelings. Saying, “I can tough this out “or “it could be worse”.

Often we find it easier to recognize the emotions and feeling of others but nearly impossible to recognize our own needs and yearnings. Why is this?

By midlife, after years of loss, comprise, denial, and fear we loose track of our “true self” and the dreams we had. We often struggle, letting go of what does not serve our highest needs.

The ego has great difficulty letting go of anything and will defend itself with great intensity. The truth is we must let go of who we are in order to become who we want to be. Gregory Levoy, author of Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic life says, “Sometimes we hear the calling but fear what will be demanded of us if we respond to the ‘call’.”

Our lives speak through our actions and reactions, our intuitions and instincts, our feelings and our words. If we can learn to listen, read our own responses, we will receive the guidance we need.

You must slow down to hear the “calling”, as to why you need to change your career, leave or start a relationship, go back to school, move to another part of the country, have a child or sell your house and travel.

Wake-up calls come in many ways to point us toward action.
They include:
--A dream that keeps coming back.
--A symptom in your body that reoccurs
--A song you hear that seems to be just for you
--A call from someone you need to hear from
--A book that falls into your lap
--An  emotional issue that keeps reappearing
--A letter or a phone call to do volunteer work

These wake-up calls stimulate your intuition; encourage you to ask deeper questions and to seek the answers. This process is a gateway into the deepest layers of your soul.

Some people do listen to the message, take the risk, and change their lives!

As we move into a new year, we all are being moved to a higher frequency. This shift will call upon each one of us to become more attuned and sensitive to our soul’s purpose. You will be shedding old stuck beliefs that are no longer working and releasing old wounds and resentments, so that you can step into you authentic power. When will you begin the journey that will take you there?

Life Strategies for Making Changes in Life and Work

Joyce's live presentation will give you Five Practical Strategies that will help you immediately make permanent change in your life and work.  Get clarity, take on new direction and take action on what you've been putting off for years.  Complete with lecture handout and exercises to help you answer the critical question: "How do I make lasting change in my life".  Read more about what you will learn here http://www.healthylivingandbalance.com/life_strategies.php

Finding and Living Your Authentic Life: Embracing Your Soul’s Calling in Midlife

Finding and Living Your Authentic Life: Embracing Your Soul’s Calling in Midlife
A one-day workshop with Carolyn Dott, PhD and Joyce Dillon, RN, MN on Saturday, April 5, 2008 at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Atlanta,GA. Don’t miss this transformational program. Click here for more information. Early Bird Discount ends March 5, 2008.