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Living in Zen, Abby, Abbotsford, BC (2026)

12/24/2025

From our home to yours—
Merry Christmas 🎄❄️⛄️✨

Wishing you all joy, blessings, love & peace ❤️

12/23/2025

If you can stay positive
In a negative situation,
You win…always ♥️

12/22/2025

“You can’t turn down the volume on your grief without also muting your joy.” ~Sabrina

This reminds us that our hearts don’t have separate volume buttons for different emotions.
We may try to numb the heavy feelings- the grief, the heartache, the loss- thinking it will make life easier to manage.
But when we dampen our capacity to feel pain, we unintentionally block our ability to feel pure, radiant joy, too.

In healing, we often talk about “holding space”. This means allowing the hard feelings to exist without trying to “fix” or suppress them.
When we stay open to the depths of our grief, we’re actually keeping the channel clear for gratitude and wonder to flow back in.
To feel it all, is to be fully alive…

12/20/2025

✨ Cosmic Wisdom ✨
Understanding the
New Moon 🌚 and Winter Solstice ❄️

This weekend offers a powerful celestial alignment with two significant events:
The New Moon tonight (Friday) and the Winter Solstice on Sunday.
Let’s see what these mean, and how they can influence us…

🌚 The New Moon:
A Cosmic Reset Button

This moon marks the beginning of a new lunar cycle. During this phase, the moon is positioned between the earth and the sun (making it invisible to us). It’s often referred to as a “dark moon” because its’ illuminated side faces away from earth.

— Astrological & Spiritual Significance:

Symbolically, the new moon is a time of new beginnings, introspection, and planting seeds for the future. It’s considered the ideal time for:

• Setting Intentions:
Clearly defining your goals and desires for the upcoming month or even the next six months (leading up to the corresponding full moon).

• Reflection:
Taking time to consider what you want to release from the past cycle and what new energies you wish to invite into your life.

• Fresh Starts:
Embracing a clean slate and initiating new projects, habits or mindsets.

❄️ The Winter Solstice:
The Return of Light

This time, also known as Yule, is an astronomical event that marks the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It occurs when one of the earth’s poles has its’ maximum tilt away from the sun.

— Cultural & Spiritual Significance:

Across cultures and throughout history, the Winter Solstice has been a deeply meaningful time:

• Symbol of Hope:
Despite being the darkest day, it heralds the “return of the light” as days gradually begin to lengthen again from this point forward. It signifies rebirth, renewal, and the promise of Spring.

• Time for Rest & Inner Work:
The deep darkness encourages introspection, rest, and conservation of energy — much like nature rests during winter.

• Celebration of Light:
Many traditions involve lighting candles, bonfires, or decorating with evergreens to symbolize resilience, warmth, and the triumph of light over darkness.

✨ Harmonizing These Energies

Having a New Moon just before the Winter Solstice creates a unique energetic window. The new moon encourages us to define ‘what’ we want to bring forth, while the solstice empowers us with the returning light to nourish and grow those intentions. It’s a powerful time for both internal reflection and hopeful anticipation.

Consider using this weekend to quietly connect with your inner self, define your aspirations, and then consciously welcome the increasing light as a beacon for their manifestation.

12/18/2025

🧠 Wiring Your Brain For Good:
A Simple Guide to Seeing the Bright Side

It’s pretty amazing when you think about it — our brains are actually designed to change physically based on what we think about most.

If it feels easier to notice problems than solutions, don’t be too hard on yourself. That’s just your brain doing what it’s practiced- trying to keep you safe.

Think of your brain like a dense forest. Every time you have a thought, you are walking a path through that forest.

If you constantly worry or focus on what’s going wrong, you are stomping down that path every single day. Eventually, It becomes a wide, paved highway.
Your brain naturally takes that road because it’s easy and familiar.

Trying to focus on the positive can feel difficult at first because you are essentially carving out a brand new trail through the woods. It takes effort.

THE SCIENCE (Simply Put):

This ability of the brain to change is called Neuroplasticity.
You also have a part of your brain called the Reticular Activating System (RAS).
Think of this system like the ‘Algorithm on your social media feed’.

You know how if you click on one video of a puppy, suddenly your whole feed is full of puppies? Your brain works the exact same way. It’s constantly watching what you pay attention to.

If you focus on problems, your brain’s algorithm thinks, “Oh- they want more of this!” and highlights every ‘issue’ in your day.
But if you intentionally pause to look at joy, your brain starts populating your “feed” with green lights, smiling strangers, and tiny opportunities you used to miss.

How To “Rewire” Your Brain

You don’t need to spend hours meditating (or whatever) to make this shift. It’s about small, consistent actions that help stomp down that new, positive path until it becomes the highway.

Here are 3 simple exercises to help you get started:

1– The “Red Car” Effect (Morning Intention)

What it helps with:
This trains your internal ‘algorithm’ to show you more of the good stuff instead of blocking it out.

Why it works:
Think about when you decide to buy a specific red car. Suddenly, you see that red car everywhere. The cars were always there; your brain just wasn’t looking for them before.

How to do it:
First thing you do in the morning (before you even look at your phone or anything), is set your specific intention. Tell yourself: “Today, I am going to look for acts of kindness,” or “Today, I am going to notice things that make me laugh.” You will be surprised at how much you find just because you asked your brain to look for it.

2- The 20-Second Savour

What It helps with:
This helps move a positive experience from a fleeting thought into a lasting memory in your body and mind.

Why it works:
Science shows that it takes about 20 seconds for the positive chemicals associated with a good experience to actually sink into your system and create a memory imprint. Usually, we rush past the good stuff too fast for it to stick.

How to do it:
When something good happens- even something tiny, like the warmth of the sun, or a genuine compliment- stop.
Don’t just say, “That’s nice” and move on. Let yourself physically feel that enjoyment for a full 20 seconds. Breathe it in.

3- The Evening Scan (“What went right?”)

What it helps with:
This breaks the habit of lying in bed reviewing your worries and sets you up for more restful sleep.

Why it works:
Our brains naturally scan the day for threats (“what did I mess up?”). This exercise manually retrains the brain to scan the last 12 hours for “wins” instead of “losses”.

How to do it:
Right before you go to sleep, instead of running through your to-do list for tomorrow, ask yourself: “What are 3 small things that went right today?” It could be catching a green light when you were late, or a friend checking in. Find three.

Rewiring takes a little time, but the view from the new path is worth it.

Which one of these exercises are you going to try today?

12/16/2025

🔦 Shine Your Light: The Secret Power of Where You Choose to Look

They say that our perspective is everything, so let’s discuss why that is…

Think of your current life situation and circumstances, etc, as a large, dark, and very cluttered room.
In this room, there is absolutely everything: beautiful, sparkly treasures, colourful fresh flowers, and comfy, cozy resting spots.
But, there’s also old junk, lots of dust, and things that could very possibly trip you up.

Here’s the thing:
You Are Holding A Powerful Flashlight— your FOCUS.

- If you only shine your light straight down at the dust, and that old, broken piece of furniture, you will convince yourself, “This room is only full of junk and filth. This room is horrible.” You walk around only seeing (and feeling) the mess, and that becomes your absolute belief.

- The Power is Yours: The junk doesn’t disappear, but you realize that your focus is only showing you ‘part’ of the truth. If you make the conscious choice to lift the light and shine it around, you start to see the shiny treasures, the fresh flowers, and the clear paths.

Your brain (the Reticular Activating System- RAS) is just doing what you tell it to do. If you tell it to focus on the threat, it sees only threat. If you tell it to look for beauty, it finds it.

✨ The Main Point is This:
The room itself rarely changes overnight, but when you shift your focus, you instantly change ‘your belief’ about the room. This shift from, “I am surrounded by mess” to “There is beauty here, too” is a monumental change in your energy.

Ready to shift your focus?
Where will you shine your light today?

12/13/2025

A gentle reminder…
xo~S♥️

12/10/2025

✨INTUITION strengthening tips…✨

👉🏼 Morning Pages (The Brain Dump)

Intuition is a quiet whisper; logic is a megaphone 📣 .
To hear the whisper- you have to clear the static.
Imagine your mind as a radio tuned to a dozen static-filled stations at once— that is the relentless sound of daily life, anxieties, and the ego’s endless chatter. Intuition, by contrast, broadcasts on a clear, quiet frequency that is easily drowned out by this noise. To receive its’ subtle signal, you must first aggressively clear the interference. The ‘brain dump’ Is a sacred act of mental housekeeping, a deliberate outpouring of superficial debris designed to create the spaciousness necessary for deeper wisdom to surface.

- The Method:
First thing In the morning, before you even check your phone or talk to anyone, write 3 pages of stream-of-consciousness thoughts.

- Why It Works:
You are dumping out the worries, the to-do lists, and the ego’s chatter. Once that layer is cleared, the profound, intuitive insights often show up at the very bottom of the page.

This practice is not about producing polished writing; It’s an act of vigorous spiritual cleansing. By refusing to censor the outpouring of your surface thoughts, you eventually exhaust the ego’s need to chatter. It is often in that newfound stillness on the very last lines of the page- after the worries and lists have been expelled- that the profound, quiet truths of your intuition are finally able to make themselves known.

12/09/2025

HEAL through Mindfulness…

✨Practice the Sacred Pause✨

Anyone else ever feel like life is happening in “fast forward”?
We live in a world of instant demands. The phone pings, and we feel like we have to answer immediately. Someone says something triggering, and we just snap back at them before we’ve even fully processed what happened.
It’s exhausting living in that state of reaction, right?

The solution?
This is where the Sacred Pause comes in.
It’s not about stopping your life for an hour to meditate (unless you want to 😉).
It’s as simple as taking 3 deep, conscious breaths ‘before’ you respond (to that email, text, or situation).

That tiny gap between the trigger and your response? That is where your freedom and your power live. In that brief pause, you stop running on autopilot and step back into your power. You get to choose peace over chaos. You get to ‘decide’ how you want to show up, instead of just ‘responding’ immediately.
It’s Mindfulness in action.

12/06/2025

HEAL through Movement…

✨ Move the Stagnant Energy ✨

Ever just feel…’stuck’?
Not necessarily sad, not angry, just a heavy, unshakable “off” feeling that won’t subside. All too often, that feeling is actually stagnant energy. Unfortunately, we tend to feel like we have to ‘figure out’ why we’re feeling this way. We sit there, analyzing our bad mood, trying to logic our way back to happiness. And really, we don’t always have to ‘think’ our way out of it. Sometimes we aren’t sad, we’re just stuck.
Emotions are energy in motion (e-motion). When we don’t express them, that energy gets trapped in the body and then we end up needing a physical release.
The fix? Move the stagnant energy.

You don’t need a 45 minute workout or anything (unless you want that 😉), you just need to shift the frequency and vibration in your body. It can be as simple as:
-Shaking it out:
Literally shake your body- hands, arms, legs…for a minute or two (or however long you feel you need).
-Dancing it off:
Put on a song you love and just let loose!
No judgment, just pure movement.
-A brisk walk:
Even 10 minutes can shift your perspective and get your blood flowing.
-Stretching:
Gentle stretches can release tension you didn’t even know you were holding.

Somatic movement helps you process emotions - not by analyzing them, but by giving them an outlet. It gets you out of your head and back into the wisdom of your body.
Give it a try the next time you’re feeling that heavy, “stuck” feeling. You might be surprised how quickly things shift!

How do you like to move your energy? 👇

12/04/2025

✨ INTUITION Strengthening Tips… ✨

To follow my last tip, I’d like to share this one…

2- Calibrate Your “Yes” and “No”:

Your physical body is your most ancient and reliable intuitive antenna. Long before your conscious mind can formulate a thought or analyze a situation, your somatic system has already registered an energetic response.
To navigate the world intuitively, you must first learn the distinct, visceral language your body speaks when it is in alignment versus when it is in resistance.
This foundational calibration allows you to bypass mental confusion and access the immediate, grounded truth of your experience.

You need to know what a “Yes” feels like in your physical body versus a “No”.

* ⚖️ The Calibration Exercise:

•Stand up or sit up straight.

•Say a True statement out loud (ex. “My name is [your name]”).
Notice the sensation. Do you lean forward? Do your shoulders drop? Does your chest feel light?
That is your baseline YES.

•Say a clearly False statement. (ex. “My name is [false name]”, or, “I don’t like puppies”… you get the idea 😉
Notice the shift. Is there a tightness in your stomach? A leaning back? A constriction in the throat?
That is your baseline NO.

Whenever you’re confused, drop out of your head, and ask your body.

By regularly practicing this calibration, you can move from frantic over-thinking to grounded sensing.
Once you recognize your unique physiological baseline for truth vs false, you cannot “un-feel” it.
The next time you’re faced with a decision and the mental chatter becomes overwhelming, drop your awareness into your body.
Trust that immediate sensation of contraction vs expansion; it’s your soul’s honest answer cutting straight through the noise.

12/03/2025

🌛🌝🌜
Next FULL MOON is the COLD MOON on Thursday, December 4th, 2025.
It is also a Supermoon…

The Full Moon is a beautiful time to release what’s no longer serving us, and set intentions for what we want to call into our lives.

Here are some ways to help amplify your full moon intentions…

1- Create a Sacred Space:

Before you do anything, make your space feel special.
Light a candle, burn some sage or palo santo to clear the energy, maybe put on some calming music…
You could lay out some of your favourite crystals (esp. Selenite or Moonstone) to amplify the vibrations.
These are some things that can help you get into that receptive, intentional headspace.

2- Charge Your Crystals:

The full moon is a perfect time to cleanse and charge your crystals.
Place them outside or on a windowsill overnight. The moonlight helps to clear away any old, stagnant energy and re-energizes them for you.

3- Do a Cleansing Ritual:

On a piece of paper, write down everything you want to let go of— old habits, fears, limiting beliefs, negative emotions… Be specific! Then you can decide what you want to do with your paper; safely burn it (in a fireproof dish), or tear it up into little pieces, as you visualize that energy being released back to the universe (to be transformed into something positive). This creates space for your new intentions to take root.

4- Journal Your Intentions:

After you’ve released what you’re letting go of, it’s time to focus on what you want to call in. Write your intentions in a journal. Don’t just list them tho; write as if they’ve already happened. Instead of- “I want to be more confident”, write “I am confident and speak my truth with ease.”
This approach helps you embody the feeling of your desires right now.

5- Full Moon Meditation & Visualization:

Whether you do this inside, or outside under the moonlight— find a comfortable spot, take a few deep breaths, and close your eyes.
Visualize a beautiful, bright full moon in the night sky. See its’ light shining down on you, filling your body with a cleansing, vibrant energy. As you breathe in, imagine a golden light filling your body, and as you breathe out, imagine any fear or tension leaving you. Then, visualize your intentions as if they are already your reality. See yourself living the life you desire, feel the emotions, and really get into that vibrational state.

✨ By choosing or combining these practices (or others), you’re not just passively wishing for things; you’re actively creating a powerful energetic container for your intentions to manifest.
Trust the process and have fun with it!

Living in Zen

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