The Circle of Wellness Newsletter 2/23

The Circle of Wellness with Diana

Monthly Reflections

Happy February! Did you know that the word February comes from the Latin “februa” that means to cleanse? The month was named after the Roman festival of Februalia, which was a month of atonement and purification. I found this interesting since in the United States we do not view February in this way. We tend to focus on Valentine’s Day and all what this holiday represents in current society.

It’s been over a month into the new year, so how are you doing with your resolutions? Kudos to those who’ve kept up to their new goals!

January represents new beginnings, and we tend to set new resolutions at the beginning of the year. Generally, by mid-February there are many resolutions that have already failed and many of those January 1st optimists are now full of self-recrimination. Stop those thoughts though! Feeling that you’re hopeless at implementing any changes or you’re lazy will keep you stuck in that behavior and certainly won’t help in getting you nearer to our goals.

Most resolutions are not striking new ideas we’ve had. Most are about making changes you’ve been considering for a while, either stopping some unhealthy behavior altogether or correcting bad habits you’ve slipped into over time. Therefore, you’re often aiming to change habits that are deeply entrenched and have been a part of your life for a long time or perhaps even stemming from childhood. To implement these alterations successfully, you’ll need more than a one-day determination to usher in new life.

Your habits are habits for a reason—they are truly engrained in you. Your behaviors are hard-wired in you through well-established neural pathways and also emotional attachments or specific meanings. As such, no early January resolution or intentions will shift them without a lot of contemplation about what keeps you stuck in certain behaviors. So, if your resolutions are already neglected, don’t despair, but rather do the work of reflection about what life circumstances, emotions and acquired beliefs led to those behaviors to begin with. Make intentions to work on releasing outdated beliefs, then behaviors will follow. Declare February to be the month of purification and release. New goals can only enter the space that’s uncluttered and inviting to the new energy.

News and Announcements

If your friends or colleagues are looking for a quality psychotherapy service, please refer them to my practice. I’m currently accepting new clients for psychotherapy and Personal Development remote sessions. All current clients receive 20 % discount for Personal Development or MARI services, and newsletter subscribers receive 10 % discount as new clients.

When you experience emotional distress due to rejection, especially by those who you love dearly, you will often feel chest pain or other overt physical symptoms. If rejection experiences occur multiple times or last over a prolonged period, both body and the emotional layer of the mind may, on psychosomatic level, lead to actual physical illnesses and exhibit emotional and mental symptoms of the trauma in a similar way as if the person has gone through a traumatic event.

Research and Information

A new study sought to examine how the use of ketamine could help people with treatment-resistant depression.

They found the use of ketamine helped some participants update negative beliefs. Updating these beliefs was further associated with a decline in depressive symptoms. Read more about this study here.

Useful Links and Resources

If you’re seeking bio-viable supplements and herbs, Vimergy offers a wide variety of formulations. Vimergy provides the highest quality supplement products in easy-to-use powder, capsule and liquid forms. Vimergy products have always been Non-GMO, Kosher, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, & Free of Natural and Artificial Flavors, and Maltodextrin. Their collections include kits that let you combine multiple supplements conveniently or try their Mix & Save discounts.

https://vimergy.com/

Recipe of the Month

Pumpkin is still in season so today’s recipe is highlighting this cold weather staple in a new way. Popovers are light and airy rolls that are made with simple ingredients and delicious either on their own or with butter and jam. Adding pumpkin to the basic recipe enhances popovers with extra sweetness and spice. As always, all my recipes are gluten free, however, you can use your flour of choice.

Pumpkin Popovers

Makes 6 popovers

INGREDIENTS

3 eggs
1 1/2 cup gf flour mix
1 1/2 cup milk of choice
4 Tbsps pumpkin puree
2 Tbsps sugar
1 Tbsp butter melted
1 Tbsp maple syrup
2 tsps pumpkin spice mix
1 ts vanilla
1 tsp rum essence
1/4 tsp salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Beat sugar and eggs thoroughly for several minutes till they’re pale yellow.
Add pumpkin, maple syrup, vanilla and rum essence, beat to combine, then add milk, butter and beat to combine again.
Sift together flour with salt and gradually add to the batter to combine.
Grease a popover pan and fill about 3/4 each. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 450 degrees for 20 minutes, lower the temperature to 350 and bake for another 20 minutes.
Remove them from the pan right away and make a tiny hole in each to let the steam out.
Serve immediately with butter and jam or plain.

Homework Corner

Deep cleaning is somehow reserved for spring months, however, spring is better suited for seeding new energy, and cleaning is more appropriate to do in the beginning of the year. Take a stock of what objects share a space with you at your place of living, review what memories they bring, what emotions are attached to those memories and what arises while you’re holding those objects in your hand. Review if you still want to be attached to both memories and objects or you’re ready to release them and discard the objects. Perhaps you do want to continue keeping some of them, then switch your attention to positive associations related to them or rewrite the inner script that you hold about past experiences so you only keep the lessons learned and gratitude and release any bitterness or heartache you may have felt in the past.