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Mindfulness: 3 Ways to Reduce Stress and Anxiety

Mindfulness: 3 ways to reduce stress and create a life of health and wellness
Mindfulness: 3 ways to reduce stress and create a life of health and wellness
Mindfulness: 3 ways to reduce stress and create a life of health and wellness

Who has stress? Who has anxiety? Who is living with stress and anxiety and may not be aware of it? May seem like a ridiculous question. When I was first told of my, pass high general anxiety, I was in denial. I thought it was my life. I thought everyone felt this way? Not everyone feels this way and you don’t have to anymore either. I first began using mindfulness for anxiety, although mindfulness is so much more.  When I first learned about mindfulness, I would get so stressed that I just couldn’t think.  I knew I needed to do something and nothing would come to mind or so many things came to mind; I couldn’t determine which thing to do first.  Can you relate? In that moment, I would think, I should meditate on this, NO; I don’t have the time for that and continue to circle and freeze into the abyss of Fret and Over-thinking Ville . What if, in just a moment, you could escape from fret land and slide into and area of calmness and peace? what would that feel like?

What is mindfulness

Let’s take a moment to define Mindfulness

Mindfulness is: Our basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing. It is already inside you. You have access anytime and my favorite part…anywhere.

Oxford dictionary definition is: mind·ful·ness:

1.the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something:

2.a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.

Mindfulness is just that, being mindful, which means, that the mind is fully aware to what’s happening and what you are doing at that moment. That might seem easy to be fully aware, accept for when our mind naturally thinks thousands of thoughts per minute or so it seems. When that happens, we are now off in ‘what if’ land thinking about some imaginary scenario that most likely will not happen, but seems so real, we are now in full anxiousness and fret.

But have no fear, mindfulness is here.  Mindfulness is wherever you are.  It just requires a little awareness and practice. 

Why should I care about mindfulness? What’s in it for me?

There are so many benefits to mindfulness. I wrote my 3 favorite benefits. You can read it here: (see link below)…..After practicing mindfulness…I wonder what your favorite benefits will be?

3 Benefits to Mindfulness
My 3 Benefits to Mindfulness

My 3 Benefits of Mindfulness Practice:

Here are the three things that I benefit from a mindful practice and they are not listed in any order of importance.

1.Reduction of Stress and Anxiety – I feel myself entering the fret-land and I take a breath and then go to my breath awareness in mindfulness

2. Mental Clarity – being in a mindful moment brings clarity and creativity. Even now, I will be experiencing a little anxiety of how I should be use my day and I will doubt the effectiveness of just a few minutes of mindfulness. Then, I set my 10 min timer and enter the calming, creative world of mindfulness where all the answers magically appear. I am now calm, confident and have my agenda set.  It’s amazing!

3. Peace and Balance – when I have that feeling that I am just overwhelmed or torn in too many directions, mindfulness just brings me peace.

What can I say; I am now addicted to feeling peaceful and balanced.

What is mindful awareness?

I mentioned before that practicing mindfulness just requires awareness and practice.

Once you catch yourself in fret land, that’s Awareness,….STOP and remember. You can restore peacefulness to yourself.  This is your basic human right and you have the power to be at peace.  You deserve this!

Now…enter into mindfulness. 

Here are 3 basic ways to practice mindfulness:

Take a stroll – Take a walk anywhere safe. Sure nature is awesome, beautiful and relaxing but it doesn’t have to be that to receive the benefits. A walk in your safe neighborhood will work. While on your walk, take in the experience with all your senses.  As you are strolling, be aware of what you see and how it makes you feel. What do you hear and how does that make you feel? What do you smell and what are you feeling now, etc.

Notice everything is about what is going on inside, your experience. When you focus on the inside, it is very difficult to be anxious about what is happening on the outside.

Mindfulness can be practiced with your first cup of coffee, tea or beverage. As you sit down with your morning beverage, be with it for a moment. What do you notice first and how does that make you feel?  What do you notice second and what are you feeling?  If it hot, perhaps you can feel the heat and observe the steam and smell the flavor. Then take a sip and again what do you notice and what are you feeling?

I wonder how your day would change for the better when starting it with mindfulness?

Mindful Breathing Meditation – My favorite mindful practice. It literally change my life.  This is where I am being aware of my breath.  Not trying to change it in anyway, just being aware of how I breathe.  Perhaps, I am noticing the muscles used, or the sound, frequency or rhythm or what do you notice? Doesn’t matter what you notice, it only matters that you are being aware and how it makes you feel.

Want to practice mindfulness, but don’t have time for a walk or a beverage handy?  You always have your breath and it only takes a moment. 

Mindful Breathing Meditation can be a meditation on its own of a starter for self-hypnosis, goal centered or manifesting meditation or ??? The possibilities are endless. 

Mindfulness: who has time for it?  Well, we can stay in fret and over-thinking land and be anxious and stressed out or take a moment, and it is only a moment, to be mindful.  In that moment, peace, clarity and confidence will return.  Who has time for it?

I Do!    Do You?

Is hypnotherapy right for you? call or text me for a free 20 min consultation. (805) 242-1649 or use the CONTACT ME form at the bottom of the post

Interested to learn mindful breathing moment/meditation? check out my Mindful Breathing Meditation audio here:

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Hi, let me share a bit about myself. Around 13 years ago, I discovered the incredible potential of the mind, body and spirit. I was introduced to Reiki, a powerful energy healing system. My initial experience with hypnosis occurred when I was sitting in an office chair, casually leaning against the wall with the intent of removing a lifelong fear.  In this 20 minute session my lifelong fear, panic really, of floating on my back in a pool disappeared. In one session, my fear was gone.

That led me to become certified in hypnotherapy through HMI (Hypnosis Motivation Institute) an accredited college of hypnotherapy. Now, as a Reiki master and hypnotherapist,  I am excited to offer Reiki infused hypnotherapy for your ultimate success.

I am dedicated to empowering my clients by assisting them in uncovering and harnessing their innate healing abilities. By tapping into this source of power, they can lead a purposeful, mindful, and harmonious life. Through the powerful combination of Reiki and hypnosis, my clients are able to establish an intuitive connection and experience holistic healing.

Want more peace and confidence in your life? Ready to learn more about how easy mindfulness can create this life? Use the form below and schedule your free consultation call now!

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Positive Thinking 2.0

To see the video of the speech, click the link below, otherwise continue reading the speech below.

Have you ever been annoyed by someone who always looks on the bright side? Well you probably would be annoyed by me.  For most things, I look for the positive and will usually add humor to it. That’s just me.  I would say I have been like that most of my adult life and I really began to train myself to be more positive as I learned about the energy that is attached to thoughts.  Thoughts are energy and I like to keep my vibration high.  So, thinking about what I don’t want is counterproductive.  It’s like being attached to a rubber band in negative land.  No matter how hard you try to leave the band pulls you back in.  Even though I would consider myself a positive thinker, we can all elevate our game and my game was elevated recently when working through a manifesting challenge.  I was creating my Desire Statement about my business.  What do I want my business to look like?  It started by creating a list of everything I didn’t like about my business. I was asked to make a list of everything I didn’t like about my business. I was asked to make a list of 10 of my complaints. Then, I was to create a gratitude statement for each complaint.  Then create an affirmation from the gratitude statement.

So, for example:

  1. Complaint: It is hard to find new clients, Gratitude statement: I am grateful for my clients -Affirmation: New clients flow to me easily and effortlessly.
  2. Complaint: I don’t believe in myself, Gratitude statement: I am grateful for my Divine gifts. Affirmation: My Divine gifts are meant to be shared.

Can you see, feel or experience the power in turning a complaint into a positive statement? 

Can you feel the transformation in energy?

Then I wondered.  If this can work with manifestation, what would it be like to turn every complaint into a positive statement?  How would that change my vibration?

I mean, there is a lot to complain about, right? Even with all my positive thinking, I am not immune to the problems in the world and I do my share of complaining.  One of my common complaints would be, do I have to hit every red light as I drive into town?  I could change that into, I am thankful for a safe drive into town.  As I follow currents events, I would think, Can this country be any crazier.  It would be better to focus on the good.  I am thankful for the freedoms my country provides. So I decided to up my game, to be more positive and grateful for everyday things.  

 Now, this isn’t easy. It takes self awareness of your thoughts and emotions.

Just like anything, it will take practice and I am dedicated to this new way of thinking. 

On a grandeur scale, if the world we live in is made up of our collective energy. Would you rather be living in a world of negative energy or positive energy? What if we all began to think more positive, to refrain from complaining, and to become more grateful for everyday things?  

Whoa……..What would that look like?

But it may be hard to believe that one can change the world by changing oneself.  However, it isn’t a new concept. Many have spoken it and a song by Michele Jackson, “The Man in the Mirror” comes to mind. 

Okay, so, if it is hard to accept a world changing concept, then consider just your life and those around you.  Law of attraction states you attract into your life what you believe.  That belief has a vibrational frequency.  You can attract negative or positive beliefs.  I prefer positive, so I will work to change my beliefs into more positive ones.  One way I can do that is to stop wallowing in the quagmire of negative thinking and beliefs and my complaints and begin attracting more positive results. 

I will become more aware of my complaining and become more positive. 

Perhaps you will join me too.

When you are ready, contact me for a free 20 min consultation to determine if hypnosis is right for you.  Call me at (805) 242-1649 or use the contact form below.

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Why is Self-Love Important

In the last 6 years, working with clients for a number of issues from quit smoking, anxiety, weight-loss and others, I have found there is an underlying issue, a thread of commonality in all and that is self-love or the lack thereof. This one tiny thing isn’t so tiny at all.  It is the foundation to creating lasting change in many if not all areas of our lives.

Let me ask you, do you really love yourself? If I asked you that, you might quickly answer, “of course I do” But do you really?  Do you treat yourself and talk to yourself with love and respect?

My upbringing 

I was born into a family with English and German heritage. My home life, love was rarely shown and acceptance was quickly removed when I wasn’t behaving according to my parent’s standard.  I learned quickly to keep my awareness on what others thought of me.  To not upset the applecart, so to speak, because, then they would not love me anymore or so I feared. This insecurity was easily carried over to all my relationships and my boundaries became pretty thin.

I was afraid to say no. I was always thinking, What if I said no?  Would they still like me?  What if my opinion up set them, what would they tell others about me. Would my Mom still love me? So I grew up learning that my self-love was second or even last to others.

Self-Love is the foundation to accepting yourself, respecting yourself and taking responsibility for yourself

In my work with clients I began to recognize the power of self love to create lasting change and I began working with my clients to increase their self-love. At the Hypno-Thoughts Live 2021 Conference, I attended Martin Caster post conference, 3 day practitioner certification training for Addiction Behavioral Modification.   one of the techniques is developing self love. This ‘self love exercise’ was powerful for me for two reasons: One, my own observation of the importance of self love was confirmed and validated and second, Martin created a very effective way to connect and reinforce self-love, respect and responsibility. When we practiced the technique on each other, it had a profound and life changing effect on me.  I no longer look at food the same anymore, which was my intention during the exercise, and it made changes in many ways throughout my daily life.

Are you ready for a quick exercise? Ok! Here is the quick exercise:

Close your eyes and take a deep relaxing breath and let your whole body relax.  Now imagine, picture or pretend that you are looking at yourself in the mirror as you are getting ready for the day.  Look yourself in the eye in the mirror and say I Love Myself.  I love myself…….

Now take a deep breath in and open your eyes

How did you do? Did you find it uncomfortable? Yes?  I did as well. It is much more comfortable now than before the conference.  Self love is connected in so many ways in our lives.  Our appearance to others is huge, isn’t it? When we see our bodies in the mirror, is our thoughts loving or hateful?  Mine used to be hateful.

Many believe, as I did, that hating our bodies would be motivational to improve their body image.  Wrong!!!

If you do not like yourself then you have no respect for yourself and will continue to regularly disrespect yourself with wrong foods and life choices.    

Who can relate to these thoughts: I don’t like me so who cares.  I want it now because it will make me feel better.  And on and on and on

Actually, when we love our selves, we will experience that self-love leads to self-acceptance and self-respect.  When you are in this state of self love and self respect, you will find yourself saying, “I love myself where I am now and I take responsibility to change it moving forward!”  Now that is power to change, wouldn’t you agree?

No longer seeking the approval of others

WOW when you love and respect yourself in your own uniqueness and value, it has power.  You can find the courage to stand firm with yourself and say This is who I am, love me or move on!  Imagine the power in that!

We talked about boundaries and saying NO.  Self-love is huge here.

Imagine how strong your boundaries are now.

The power in self-love and respect could be referred to as a super power couldn’t?

When you have self-love and respect, you have the power to take action for yourself and build stronger boundaries. I wonder what other super powers will begin to emerge.

 Perhaps: Open, caring and honest communication with others would come forward or how about putting you first or this one, Self Forgiveness.  Let us have that superpower as well.  It is okay to forgive yourself from the past, present and the future.  We are going to make mistakes. That is the path to growth.  It happens; so let it go.

Are there’s more? I wonder how many other super powers you will you find when you begin to love yourself for who you are.

Super Powers I want some!

Self-love, self-respect, superpowers, I want them all!  How do I get some of that?  One way is to see me for a session and there are lots of other ways to build self love into your daily routine.

Take a walk anywhere or in your favorite nature spot. Take that nap you need.  Treat yourself to healthy foods and snacks. Drink plenty of water

Meditate, yoga, mindfulness, journaling, arts or crafts and practice gratitude.

Allow yourself to be you – Respect & love your uniqueness

Want to experience a personal Self Love Journey? I created an audio recording that will release your self love blockages and empower your love for yourself. As a special gift attached to this blog, use the link below and receive $10 dollars off the regular audio price. The audios normally sell for $25 dollars but you can have it for $15. click the link below for the audio and use the discount code SLJ-10-off at check out to receive your discount.

For a personalized Self-Love Journey experience, contact me for a self love hypnosis session. Call or text me at (805) 242-1649 or use the CONTACT ME form below

Art Kuhns Certified Hypnotherapist and Reiki Master/Teacher

Art is a certified hypnotherapist and Reiki master teacher.  He received his hypnotherapy certification from Hypnosis Motivation Institute.

 Art’s passion is to empower others to find and unlock their own healer and personal power.  Once this power is unleashed, a life of intention and balance in mind /body/spirit can unfold.   He uses Reiki infused hypnosis during his session work to enable clients to connect intuitively and heal holistically.

He holds additional certifications in PTSD, Smoking Cessation, Inner Child Healing, Addition & Behavior Modification and Spiritual Hypnosis.