by Kathleen O'Keefe-Kanavos | Apr 7, 2016 | Access Your Inner Guide, Uncategorized
Quote: “Old habits are hard to break. It’s like toilet training your inner-child. Don’t give up on them.” ~Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos
What are the warning signs and symptoms that your anxiety is progressing to overwhelming stress that may become depression? And, what can you do to prevent it? Part three of this three-part series on post-holiday depression focuses on holistic cures, solutions, and preventions to the after-party-blues.
Some of us are natural care givers by nature. We live to help. We love to give. Our nurturing mother-within thinks carrying other people’s troubles for them it will lighten their load. It doesn’t. It just makes your life heavier. And that is depressing.
Understanding and embracing this rule-of-life teaches us an important lesson—We cannot carry other people’s “stuff”, talk their talk for them or walk their path for them. We can respect their life-lessons to be learned by them. And, perhaps our lesson may be to respect and love them enough to let them make mistakes and learn from those lessons.
Temporarily offer your shoulder but not your back. Let me explain.
There is a big difference between being spiritually supportive and being an emotional mule. A supportive person lends a helping hand or a shoulder to cry on. A mule carries the weight of the world on their back while refusing to focus on their own life and issues—this is avoidance. It only takes another challenge to be the straw that breaks the mule’s back and sends them spiraling into depression.
Be the shoulder to cry on with a non-negotiable time limitation.
According to the Journal of Clinical Psychology, as little as a thirty-minute cardiovascular routine can provide an immediate natural mood boost similar to the effects felt after taking an antidepressant medication. This healthy holistic response can be due to endorphins released by the body during exercise. The same effect can be accomplished by a daily routine involving a brisk walk.
The Mayo Clinic advocates acknowledgment of stress and talking about and speaking with professionals about depression as a big step in working through it.
Here are additional ways to combat post-holiday depression:
- Return to or begin eating a healthy diet.
- Re-establish and maintain a regular sleep pattern
- Do something once a day that brings you joy
Our mind is a beautiful thing. Experience can teach us that we manifest not only what we want in life but also what we need. Sometimes that need is to slow down, reassess our lives and reconnect to inner guidance through dreams, prayers, and meditation. Depression can serve us in this capacity. It is not an enjoyable experience and few of us would choose to go through it again. However, it can be a sign from inner-guidance that it is time to reassess our lives. By facing our depression rather than suppressing it, we can learn from it, use it to change our life, and ultimately respect it to survive adversity and illness.
Don’t let your post-holidays become something you dread.
Instead, take steps to prevent the stress that can lead to depression during and after the parties have ended. Learn to recognize your post-holiday depression triggers. These may include financial pressures and personal demands. Focusing on solutions that work for you can help disconnect those emotional buttons that trigger depression. Combat triggers with awareness before they lead to a meltdown. With a little planning, awareness, and positive thinking, you can find peace and joy during and after the holidays.
ABOUT THE HOST/AUTHOR: Kathleen (Kat) O’Keefe-Kanavos TV/Radio Host/Producer of Wicked Housewives On Cape Cod ™ believes your DREAMS can diagnose your life. She’s Host of the Kat Kanavos Show on New Earth International, Patheos blogger, Author/Lecturer of Award winning, International bestseller, Surviving Cancerland: Intuitive Aspects of Healing: which promotes patient advocacy & connecting with Inner-guidance through Dreams, Prayers & Meditations. Learn more @ www.AccessYourInnerGuide.com
(All pictures and quotes were used with permission from the guest or are owned by the author.)
by Kathleen O'Keefe-Kanavos | Apr 4, 2016 | Access Your Inner Guide, Uncategorized
Quote: “Just because life throws something at you doesn’t mean you have to catch it and keep it.”~ Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos
Why are you starting to feel so depressed after the best parties of the year have just finished?
Stress and depression go together like peanut butter and jelly. Believe it or not, just as peanut butter is a super food, depression can be an important part of your spiritual health. And, according to recent studies, post-holiday depression may be quite normal. Part one of this blog focused on the many possible causes of post-holiday depression. Now that we know why we may have it, let’s explore what we can we do to be rid of it? This article focuses on natural and holistic solutions found in studies cited in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, and Psych Central. Persistent or debilitating depression may require medical care.
To overcome stress or depression we need to make lifestyle assessments and adjustments.
Just because life or friends throw something difficult your way does not mean you have to catch and hold onto it for dear life. That something includes insults or negative relationships. You can choose to duck or move out of the way. And, if you do decide to catch it, take a good look at it. Then make the conscious decision to either keep it or drop it and walk away. Yes, you can!
Depression is an opportunity.
Stress and Depression can be incredible professors from the University of Hard Knocks who can help you realization that how people treat you is their Karma, how you respond to them is yours. However, not all relationships or situations should be avoided or dropped.
Most broken bones can be mended, as can many relationships. Embrace what can be fixed.
And, that is when we may learn one of Psychology’s most important life-lessons—the quickest way to change someone’s behavior is to change yours first because they will naturally respond differently to the new you.
When your heart brakes, your body falls.
Depression can help you take time out for yourself. It can teach the importance of self- respect, honor, and putting ourselves first, and to choose to change or walk away from bad habits, relationships, and situations.
These are valuable lessons for life. Draw new boundaries with which you can live. When you focus on respecting them others will follow your lead.
A friend once asked me, “How can I just quit my job or walk away from my relationship if that is what is depressing or killing me.”
Her question was answered by these questions. “Are you worried about letting down your job and relationship or yourself? Will they survive tomorrow if you are not around? Will you thrive if they are gone? You cannot hold a gift if your hands are full, especially something heavy to carry. Put something down.”
To accomplish this, the next time you feel overwhelmed take a step back and reassess your life. Check your inner-baggage; the useless stuff you have accumulated. You may be surprised by how bogged down you may have become by emotional baggage that is not yours. Simply drop it. It is so easy to unconsciously pick up other people’s emotional suitcases rather than respecting their right to carry them, or not. In part three of this series on post-holiday depression, we will discuss breaking old habits that may be the cause of stress and depression.
ABOUT THE HOST/AUTHOR: Kathleen (Kat) O’Keefe-Kanavos TV/Radio Host/Producer of Wicked Housewives On Cape Cod ™ believes your DREAMS can diagnose your life. She’s Host of the Kat Kanavos Show on New Earth International, Patheos blogger, Author/Lecturer of Award winning, International bestseller, Surviving Cancerland: Intuitive Aspects of Healing: which promotes patient advocacy & connecting with Inner-guidance through Dreams, Prayers & Meditations. Learn more @ www.AccessYourInnerGuide.com
(All pictures and quotes were used with permission from the guest or are owned by the author.)
by Kathleen O'Keefe-Kanavos | Apr 4, 2016 | Access Your Inner Guide, Uncategorized
Affirmation: “I will temporarily offer my shoulder but not my back.”
Finally! The hectic holidays are over. After indulging in some of the best parties of the year, why are you feeling so low and what can you do to get rid of the blues?
Don’t despair. You are not alone. Mild post–holiday depression and even cold seasonal depression can follow you into the heat of summer. But life is often more about perception than fact. And if you choose to view it as such, depression can become an asset in your life in the form of life-saving warning signs and inner spiritual guidance. Turn the-blues into motivation for change rather than a hindrance for life.
You’ve been focused on meeting the holiday needs of family and friends. It may be time to tune-into yourself. Speaking as a three-time breast cancer survivor, my severe bouts of depression taught me to be aware of my choices; take pills to alleviate and ignore it, or face it and figure out what my body, psyche and inner-guidance were telling me about my life. Occasionally, the choice was as simple and complicated as life and death.
According to research and studies done at the Mayo Clinic, the end of a holiday is often the beginning of depression. Just as we can physically crash after extensive sugar, we can feel down after a long party. The pendulum of life had swung far over into the extreme energy mode of multiple merry-making events like Halloween, followed by Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and finally Easter. The turkey has been carved, the gifts put away and all the eggs found. Now, as the pendulum swings back into normal it can feel like a let-down rather than a relief.
This particular type of depression is also referred to as Seasonal Affective Disorder, aka SAD. According to Medicine Net the symptoms are similar to Post Vacation Depression. It is normal to have a few of the symptoms listed below. The challenge is when you suffer from many of them at the same time. It may be a sign that you are SAD.
Check the 9 symptoms below to see how SAD you may be. Do you have:
- unexplained
- cryin
- mood swings
- irritability
- trouble concentrating
- unexplained
- no
- insomnia,
- overeating and weight gain especially from
Now you know the symptoms. The causes of post-holiday depression may be:
- Unmet expectations
- Unrealistic New Year resolutions
- A return to loneliness after
- Guilt about holiday overindulgence
- Seasonal depression pattern
Depression is often a symptom, not an illness. Alleviating a symptom does not cure the disorder and this one is not something to ignore.
Research has consistently shown a strong link between suicide and depression. According to a Center for Disease Control study concerning suicide facts and Suicide Awareness Vices of Education, suicide is the second leading cause of death for 15 to 24 year olds. An estimated quarter million people each year become suicide survivors.
Our emotional discomfort can be so great we would rather considered death by our own hand as a means of escape rather than staying and facing our “ghosts.”
However, deciding to see what lessons can be learned from depression is often the first step toward a cure.
It is like pulling the knife from your heart and using it to cut through life’s Bull-sh#t.
As a three time cancer survivor, depression was a frequent companion. Looking back on those trying times now allows me to answer difficult questions previously avoided such as,
Our mind is incredibly powerful and will create or manifest situations to serve and save us.
My conclusion is depression and illness can be a way of forcing us to slow down and “look within” at memories (old baggage), events (past and present cycles), people (relationships), and life-style (habits) are not to our benefit. Without depression it may be easier to continue accepting whatever life is throwing our way—settling for less than what is needed and/or deserved.
Watch for part 2 of this article for solutions and tips on how to overcome post-holiday depression.
ABOUT THE HOST/AUTHOR: Kathleen (Kat) O’Keefe-Kanavos TV/Radio Host/Producer of Wicked Housewives On Cape Cod ™ believes your DREAMS can diagnose your life. She’s Host of the Kat Kanavos Show on New Earth International, Patheos blogger, Author/Lecturer of Award winning, International bestseller, Surviving Cancerland: Intuitive Aspects of Healing: which promotes patient advocacy & connecting with Inner-guidance through Dreams, Prayers & Meditations. Learn more @ www.AccessYourInnerGuide.com
(All pictures and quotes were used with permission from the guest or are owned by the author.)
by Kathleen O'Keefe-Kanavos | Mar 20, 2016 | Access Your Inner Guide, Uncategorized
The ancient Akashic Records and modern iCloud may have more in common than you ever imagined. As we progress deeper into the realm of storing invisible energy in the form of cyber downloads from our computers, smart-phones and other internet related devices are we tapping into a realm on the earth plane that runs parallel to the spiritual plane frequented by our spirit between lives- the realm that houses our Akashic Records.
Can iCloud be to our many computers what the Akashic Records are to our many lives? Is this all part of Universal Wisdom on multiple planes playing out parts in our multi-dimensional lives? Perhaps we are progressing back to the future with such ease we are unaware of our profound journey and just take it in stride. But many questions still haunt us.
Is there life before life? Can understanding your past lives improve your present one? And, is there such a thing as “karma”?
All these questions and more are answered during this incredible radio interview with award-winning Hay House author Dr. Linda Howe.
The radio interview link is posted at the end of this article for your listening pleasure.
Dr. Linda Howe is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the Akashic Records. She has authored three bestselling books on the topic of Akashic Wisdom, and as we discussed her new book, “Discover Your Soul’s Path Through the Akashic Records, we discovered there is much more to life-and-death than the here-and-now.
What is the Akasha?
According to Dr. Linda Howe, “Akasha is the energetic history of the Soul. It is said that the Akasha exists all around us.”
Her fabulous in-depth explanation illuminated a lightbulb in my brain concerning life, death and our energy. When your body dies and leaves this realm of existence, the soul and its energetic energy continues to exist, and downloads this lifetime’s history into its records.
If that explanation sounds too far-fetched to be plausible, think about the impossibility of iCloud. Akashic Records-iCloud. It makes sense.
iCloud makes sure you always have the latest versions of your most important things— documents, photos, notes, contacts, and more — from all your devices, all the time and accessible from anywhere night or day, 24/7… memories and information for decision-making. All you need to connect is your password. Can you find it by accessing your Sacred Dream Doorways?
Now imagine if your Akashic Records were your lifetimes stored in a spiritual iCloud accessible from anywhere at any time, just like your computer information in iCloud. But, with the Akashic Records each new location is a new lifetime, and you have access to all those lifetimes, all those downloads, all that personal information.
What are some of the benefits of connecting with your Akashic Records?
They can:
- take your life from ordinary to ExtraOrdinary
- give insights into the mysterious realm of spiritual exploration first popularized by Edgar Cayce (“The Sleeping Prophet”)
- help understand and chang disheartening, dysfunctional and/or self-sabotaging habits and relationships.
- help you discover your soul’s path
- shift your consciousness,
- find healing to positively transform your life
What if you could download job choices and lovers of lifetimes past to discover why certain relationships or financial decisions in this lifetime work while others do not. Imagine how much happier, easier and fulfilled your life would be. Rather than repeating the same poor choices over and over again your Akashic Records could afford you the ability to learn from you mistakes in the past…as in past lifetimes, to improve your present and affect your future.
Working in the Akashic Records can remove significant blockages. Understanding this seemingly “esoteric” topic can dramatically alter your life by addressing personal questions about phobias, unexplained illness, relationship issues, black sheep syndrome and much more. Breaking this enormous concept down into smaller pieces like the iCloud example can help with comprehending the concept of the Akashic Records. .
Some of us have intuitively figured out the process of using iCloud. Others needed instruction. It is much the same with the Akashic Records.
Your Akashic Records are an innate personal gift; your birth-right. No one else’s records are identical to yours. It is important to understand the “history” of your Soul and how it can inform and improve your life today. As with most things in life, there are unique ways to tap into the vast, energetic library of the Akashic realm to access and open your personal records.
The key is remembering your personal password. Just ask Dr. Linda.
About the Guest: Dr. Linda Howe is the founder of the Linda Howe Center for Akashic Studies. She shares her inspired curriculum and new insights into this mysterious realm of spiritual exploration, first popularized by Edgar Cayce, for modern day seekers. Dr. Howe is the first person to make the Akashic Records available to everyone through her proprietary Pathway Prayer Process© so they may utilize the Records as a spiritual resource for personal empowerment and transformation. Her work is accessed globally through her popular online courses, books, workshops, personal consultations and more. Learn more www.LindaHowe.com
About the Show Host: Kathleen (Kat) O’Keefe-Kanavos is a TV/Radio Producer/Host of Wicked Housewives On Cape Cod™ and Author/Lecturer of the International award winning bestseller, Surviving Cancerland: Intuitive Aspects of Healing which promotes patient advocacy and connecting with inner guidance for success in health, wealth, and love, contributing author to Chicken Soup for the Soul: Dreams & Premonitions, PATHEOS Blogger and Columnist to Women Voices Magazine: SOUL and HOME, Kat taught Special Education and Psychology. She has been featured in newspapers, on CBS News, in American Express Open, and published in medical journals. Learn more @ www.AccessYourInnerGuide.com
CLICK the LINK here to listen to the show: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/wickedhousewivesoncapecodradiont/2016/03/16/kathleen-okeefe-kanavos-show-whay-house-author-linda-howe-marie-saint-louis
(all photos, posters, etc., are either owned by the blog author or used with permission by the guest.)
by Kathleen O'Keefe-Kanavos | Mar 7, 2016 | Access Your Inner Guide, Uncategorized
“Few are those who can see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.”
~Albert Einstein
Lyric Benson Fergusson loves God and life so much she feels they should both be a part of the Divine joy she lives. There is no place Lyric refuses to take God. Hence-French Kissing God.
I began the interview with, “So, let’s ask the most obvious question-How did you come up with this awesome, yet provocative title and how does it tie into your book of poetry.”
Her answer astounds me with her Inner-guidance journey.
Lyric took me on a wild ride through her life of Hollywood Royalty to Celibate Monk.
She explained how her book, French Kissing God, is full of wildly fun poetry as courageous as its title. In this radio interview, she also explains in detail how she came up with the provocative name for her book and how it is a perfect fit for her life.
What makes Lyric’s poetic story so astounding is her upbringing as a Hollywood offspring, raised religious free, yet still finds her bliss through God’s imprint on everything-practical and impractical.
It does not seem likely that the daughter of actor/director/songwriter Robby Benson of the movie and television productions Ice Castles, Beauty and the Beast/director of sitcoms Friends and Ellen and whose mother is actress/rock star Karla DeVito who toured with singer Meatloaf and starred on Broadway’s Pirates of Penzance, would trade in an elite Hollywood life for that of a celibate monk, but Lyric did.
So, what created the profound shift in her life?
At the age of nineteen, suddenly faced with a major family crisis, her own unimaginable physical pain, and the loss of a dear friend in the Twin Towers collapse on 9/11, Lyric was in such extreme emotional and physical agony, she began to pray.
Prayer created the moment that changed her life.
Lyric’s spiritual search for God became all consuming. “My parents were wonderful loving people who just did not believe in religion. I lived in a Hollywood-influenced home. For some reason, my search and love for God became of paramount importance in my life. I found my way to transcendental Meditation and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and joined his coherence-creating group for world peace.” Lyric spent the next eight years in eyes-closed meditation for up to ten hours a day while living a monastic life.
In silence, she awakened to God’s presence through a stage of extreme bliss.
“In my humble experience, the path towards God-realization is at times extremely challenging, because you are swimming in such a different current than the rest of the world. But, life is often challenging anyway. So you might as well hold God’s hand through the process. Once your grip is tight around God’s palm, and you feel the heat of His fingertips as your own-creation becomes so strikingly beautiful.” Lyric says.
During this interview, Lyric leads us on a journey of enlightenment from her life as a celibate monk seeking God to experiencing “unimaginable Divine Union and bliss” to a everyday housewife.
What does living a monastic life mean? It entails:
- Rising at 3:45 am for eight to ten hours of
- Simple meals
- No TV, radio or “outside influence”
- Living in a state of celibacy
Lyric says she deeply experiences God as a manifestation in everyday experiences, in everything we touch, in every human being. But, as unknowable as Divinity may ultimately be, she still finds God completely intimately accessible.
While Benson Fergusson may only be 32, her timeless wisdom speaks for itself. As she read one of her Rumi-esque poems I was magically transported through the thrill of a young woman’s awakening in her body, mind, and soul to the unspeakable immensity of Divine love. Lyric masterfully unites the spiritual with the sexual.
But there is an earthbound love story involved here, too. No! Not the one about kissing God. It is about how Lyric reconnected with her college boyfriend after he too had chosen to live a monastic life. It is a beautiful love story. It’s unfolding shows how true love is timeless and conquers all when blessed by the Divine.
Today they are happily married and on the same incredible path that still revolves around their faith and belief. That is vivaciously refreshing and downright sexy.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/wickedhousewivesoncapecodradiont/2016/03/02/kathleen-okeefe-kanavos-show-french-kissing-god-wlyric-benson-fergusson
About the guest: Lyric Benson Fergusson is the author of French Kissing God, grew up in Hollywood and is an enthusiastic screenwriter (she attended NYU Tisch Film School), poet, actress, photographer, spiritual teacher, and activist. An avid practitioner of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation, she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Maharishi University of Management in 2006 with a degree in Vedic Science. It was this experience that led Lyric to delve deep within herself in an exploration of consciousness, fueling her desire for enlightenment. Learn more @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyric-fergusson-205628ba
About the host: Kathleen (Kat) O’Keefe-Kanavos is a TV/Radio Producer/Host of Wicked Housewives On Cape Cod™ and Author/Lecturer of the International award winning bestseller, Surviving Cancerland: Intuitive Aspects of Healing which promotes patient advocacy and connecting with inner guidance for success in health, wealth, and love, contributing author to Chicken Soup for the Soul: Dreams & Premonitions, PATHEOS Blogger and Columnist to Women Voices Magazine: SOUL and HOME, Kat taught Special Education and Psychology. She has been featured in newspapers, on CBS News, in American Express Open, and published in medical journals. Learn more @ www.AccessYourInnerGuide.com
