Hi everyone and Happy Holidays,

I am thinking about you this special time of year with gratitude, and wishing you all the gifts your heart desires. May your life be rich in love, peace, joy, and overflowing with abundance in spirit and harmony that you share with others.

Here is an article I wrote for the holidays last year – hope you enjoy it.

http://ezinearticles.com/?12-Transforming-Questions-for-the-Season&id=372368

Warmest regards & best wishes,

Patricia
Patricia Eslava Vessey, CPC, ACC
Certified Professional Coach
Integrity Coaching & Training Systems
www.integritylifecoach.com

(206)459-2898

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain

Just Released: “Vibrant & Lasting Relationships” by Co-Author Patricia Eslava Vessey – Order your copy today!

Hi everyone,  I hope you have been safe in the challenging weather we have experienced in the Western Washington lately.  My husband’s family is in Aberdeen and was surrounded by water, and without power for many days.  It will be some time (if ever) before life is back to normal there.  Many of my family members are in Kitsap County, a disaster zone.  My brother’s long, winding dirt road to his home was washed out by land a slide, and that is where we are having Christmas this year.

It seems every year we get reminders of how unstable our world is becoming.  More and more we are learning to be prepared for disasters, and to carry on, and make the best of it.

With every disaster comes a gift. Our unpredictable, often unsafe world gives us the  pportunity to refocus our attention, to clarify, cherish, and cling to what is important-what we value.  What is truly important to us?  How would we behave, if we really knew our time was limited? What would be important to say to loved ones, colleagues and friends?

What would we give?  Maybe it is the gift of time given to those in need. Perhaps it is encouragement, donations, or kind words to someone with whom we have had a conflict. What we can control in our unpredictable world is how we respond to one another.  We have the opportunity to respond with love, support, and service.  What will be your response? To whom will you reach out to today?

I wish you many blessings this holiday season. I also want to thank you for supporting me by attending my workshops and classes, and by your encouraging emails.  You are AWESOME, and it is a privilege to know you!

Warmest regards,
Patricia

This special time of Thanksgiving gives us an opportunity to press the pause button and take stock of the blessings in our lives. It is a time when we can notice and be grateful for a job and roof over our heads, a loving God, good health, cherished friends, a loving pet, and companion, grandchildren, freedom, and life itself.

Being in the state of gratefulness brings in positive, healing energy that nourishes us deep in our souls. Not only does it feel good to be grateful, it is good for our health too. Thousands of years of literature talk about the benefits of cultivating gratefulness as a virtue, essential to health and well-being according to University of California psychology professor Robert Emmons. 

According to research, grateful people take better care of themselves and participate in healthy behaviors like regular exercise, a healthy diet, and regular check-ups.  Gratitude can also help us better manage stress, and cope with daily problems.   Gratefulness produces more optimism too, and that boosts our immune system.

So how do we cultivate gratitude?  We can begin by keeping a “Gratefulness Journal”.  Keep it on your bed stand, and every evening before you go to sleep, write something for which you are grateful. For example, I am grateful for my health, freedom, job, children, pet etc.  If you are facing a challenging situation, reframe it by looking at the positives and opportunities in it, like learning to manage stress, or learning new skills etc.  Also, each evening, write down the happiest moment of your day.  In doing this, you get in the habit of looking for happy moments rather than dwelling on the negatives, and this helps our overall well-being.

By the way, how many times have you stopped and expressed gratitude for being able to resist that dish of ice cream, piece of cake, or other food you should not eat?  When was the last time you felt good about exercising, doing a distasteful but necessary task, or just being nice when you are having one of those days? Remember to express gratitude in all things.

Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Your comments & feedback are always welcome and encouraged. For an appointment call 206-459-2898 or e-mail me at: patricia@integritylifecoach.com Home page http://www.integritylifecoach.com Copyright© 2007 Patricia Eslava Vessey…All Rights Reserved

My husband and I were taking an energetic walk in our neighborhood this evening.  We have a couple of routes we can take depending on time.  It was a beautiful evening as the sun went down, and it felt wonderful to move after sitting all day at work. 

As we walked, I thought about some of my personal training and coaching clients and the struggle they have in giving themselves time to exercise. I said a little prayer for each of them. My hope is that they will see the benefits in taking time for themselves.  Even a short walk in the middle of the day if that’s all that time allows, will revitalize them for the rest of the day. A walk can also give them mental, emotional, and spiritual clarity, something we could all benefit by, in our busy, hectic lives. 

Ask yourself this:  How would my life be different if I took better care of myself?  What would the benefit be to those around me?
Happy Fall, a wonderful time to walk and enjoy this colorful time of year.
Blessings,
Patricia

As you return to work from the extended weekend, what will be different this week?  Consider these questions:

What positive outlook will you create? 

What experience will you be open to?

What “WIN” will you create?

What can you look forward to?

What will you let go of this week?

Have a great week!

Patricia

Years ago, I used to smoke cigarettes.  I know, I know, how could this be possible, I’ve been a fitness instructor and personal trainer for 26 years!  Well, I did, and it was very popular for the kids I ran with during that time.  We had no idea it was dangerous.  Heck, all the movie stars did it, and they looked so glamorous.  The crowd I hung out with, well, we wanted to be just like them, from our copied hair styles, fashionable clothing, far out, groovy language, and in our personal habits too, like smoking. 

My friends and I created rituals around smoking.  We would sneak away (which was delicious in itself), and hide out while enjoying the grown up, act of smoking.  The fact that getting caught would put us in serious trouble with our parents and school officials made it all the more appealing.  It was here we could secretly “get back” at the grown ups for imposing their rules on us. 

My best friend, Barbra (not Barbara!) and I would share a cigarette, and talk about boys.  We competed with each other a lot, and tried our hardest to out-do each other blowing the perfect smoke rings…inside smoke rings.  She used to make me so mad because she took so long to inhale and exhale.  She always had to be so dramatic and pretend she was someone famous, and for some reason that ticked me off.  So we would limit the number of puffs each one took and still we always fought over it.  I guess that was part of our ritual too.

Later, after learning it was dangerous, I tried to stop smoking and I couldn’t.  Each attempt I made resulted in failure, and I realized I was addicted!  I tried everything from writing about it, getting therapy for it, going cold turkey, and chewing gum, but to no avail.  During those years, I would get so depressed because I couldn’t master the act of quitting.  It wasn’t so much about saving myself from the perils of smoking that depressed me, it was not being able to do what I wanted to do.  If you’ve ever tried stopping a habit you know exactly what I mean.  With each attempt, I’d pray, and say to myself, ok, Patricia, this time it’s going to work, and you’re really going to quit.

Then, a day or two later, I would be puffing away again trying to justify to myself why it was ok to keep smoking.  I’d say stuff like, as soon as this current crisis is over, I’ll quit, or worse yet, I would convince myself I was probably like that 100 year old person who smoked their entire life, and didn’t get cancer.  I remember those times very well, and how I vacillated between justifying my smoking and beating myself up for being such a failure.

What I realized is that yes, I was definitely terrified of getting cancer and dying, but honestly, what was most defeatingly frustrating, was not being able to control myself.  That was the key, and the source of my feelings of failure.  I have always been (and even more so as I get older) driven to master, conquer and excel at things – not to meet someone else’s standards, but to meet my own.  I could not, for the life of me, conquer this nasty habit, and that made me feel bad about myself…horribly bad about myself.  If I couldn’t master this, how could I master the other big, and important things in my life?  Because of this kind of thinking, I played small in many areas of my life during those days.

Then I entered a personal growth period in my life and started reading self-help books, like, Healing the Child Within, by Charles L. Whitfield, MD, Changes That Heal, by Dr. Henry Cloud, Learning To Love Yourself, by Gay Hendricks.  I learned about the importance of having a good relationship with myself, and this became my new goal.  I developed compassion and forgiveness for myself, for the areas in my life where I felt like a failure – like smoking. I found myself feeling more protective about my body, and I began taking vitamins, exercising and watching my diet.  I went to a Naturopath, and learned even more about caring for myself.  I learned about affirmations and the power of our minds in creating our reality – that what we tell our self creates a pathway for how we experience our lives, and it determines our success and failure.

As I transformed my thinking on this new inner journey, I gained clarity around my smoking, and I made a decision to quit that was based on my deep care, appreciation and love for myself.  I was successful this time, with no turning back!  I was finally able to gain freedom and independence on the day I quit.  More importantly, I freed myself from my self-imposed bondage of limited thinking.  I realized that I (we) can be masters of our habits; we can free ourselves from limiting behaviors and thinking and create our own independence day!  Are you ready to begin your inner journey?

Answer the following questions:
1.  What self-limiting lies have you been telling yourself?
2.  Write about what a positive, healthy relationship with yourself would look like?
     * how would you feel about yourself
     * what would you think about yourself
     * how would you support yourself
3.  What are you in bondage to, and from what do you want freedom?
4.  What will you do to get it?
5.  What is your commitment?

I welcome your comments.  Please share your stories so everyone can benefit.  Thank you, and many blessings to you always.

Patricia

Your comments & feedback are always welcome and encouraged.  For an appointment call 206-459-2898 or e-mail me at: patricia@integritylifecoach.com Home page http://www.integritylifecoach.com  Copyright© 2007 Patricia Eslava Vessey…All Rights Reserved  

Many of us live our lives reacting to what is happening in our environment without regard to the impact on ourselves.  Often we respond quickly in an attempt to make annoying stress go away.  Facing many choices for some is extremely stressful, and can completely immobilize us, which adds to the stress.  Sometimes we balance and weigh our choices on what others think, what is popular, or what would alleviate the pressure of having to make a choice.  Too often, we are stressed, in a hurry, and we make unconscious choices.  Frequently these choices come without regard to the impact on us at a deep level.

How often do we make choices based on who we are, and what is truly important to us?  How would our lives be different if we learned to live from the inside out, making meaningful choices that support ourselves? Doing this allows us to make conscious choices rather than react to what is happening outside ourselves.  It gives us more control over our lives, and ourselves and with that comes self-empowerment.  When we consciously choose what our lives will be like, we are setting our own course, and creating a life that reflects what is important to us.

The most effective way to transform our lives, to include deep and lasting change is to transform from the inside out. Instead of searching for meaning and answers outside ourselves, look inward and embrace who we are at our core, our core heart essence, (CHE™).

How do we do this?  First, spend some time writing about what is important to you.  For example, what do I value, and what do I enjoy?  What won’t I tolerate? What do I believe in and what convictions do I have that are non-negotiable?
 
When you spend valuable time getting to know yourself at a deep level, your choices will become easier.  When faced with a choice try asking yourself, how this will affect me at a deep level.
 
Blessings,
Patricia

Your comments & feedback are always welcome and encouraged. For an appointment call 206-459-2898 or e-mail me at:   patricia@integritylifecoach.com Home page http://www.integritylifecoach.com Copyright© 2007 Patricia Eslava Vessey…All Rights Reserved

The other day I looked at Spencer (my 5lb Papillion, human dog) and got teary eyed.  Spencer is nine (10 on 7/2/07) years old, and I try very hard not to worry about his health.  Instead, I thoroughly enjoy and cherish, with a warm heart, who he is. 

It is the happiest feeling in the world to come home and be greeted by him.  As soon as I lock my car (and the horn honks), I hear him start barking in the house.  He eagerly awaits my arrival, and can’t wait for me to get in the house.  How precious is that. 

He gets out of the way as I toss my lunch box and purse to the top of the stairs, and then comes to give me kisses. This is our routine.  I love how he stands there and looks at me, just watching.  Wherever he is, he positions himself so he can watch me.  Sometimes when I am on the toilet (I know, too much information) he comes in and stands with his back to me, and he faces the door.  He is guarding me.  How precious is that, that this tiny 5 lb dog would risk his life for me.  Wow, how can I not love him so much.

Also, we play catch.  I’m at the bottom of the stairs, he at the top, and I toss a little cat ball to him.  He hits it in the air with his nose so it comes back to me in the  air and I catch it.  He could do this for hours.

Spencer also knows sign language, and responds perfectly with a bark to the sign for “more” and “speak”.  He used to roll over, but now he refuses, and growls at me when I try to make him do it.  Don’t know what’s up with that.  Another unique and very cute thing he does is bring me several pieces of food out of his dish.  I will say, Spencer, go get mama some food (several times), and he brings it and drops in in front of me.  Then I make him do tricks and feed them to him.

I try to enjoy him with out worrying about the future, but the truth is, sometimes I do.  I worry about how I’m going to fall apart when he will no longer be in my life.  I will miss every one of these routines we have that create our wonderful relationship.  I will miss his company, and how he gets me outside of myself, and how he teaches me to love.

It is so sad that these wonderful creatures are with us for such a short time.  Unlike my two birds (another post…) Krioni and Kinsasha who will out live me.  Spencer, If I’m really blessed, will be here for 17 years.

Please share your comments about your pet.

Blessings,
Patricia

Family Child Care Providers:

I am teaching a 2.5 hour workshop at the Child Care Resources Family Child Care Conference on Saturday, June 2, 2007 at the Red Lion Bellvue Inn.  The conference  is from 8-4:30.  Registration deadline is May 25th.  Call Child Care Resources if you want to attend. 

My workshop is on Extraordinary Self Care, uncovering your Core Heart Essence, (CHE).  Here’s the description:

The pressures of daily living cause us to switch on autopilot and not be purposeful in what we do.  Deeply connecting with and caring for ourselves becomes buried beneath layers of “to-do” lists, stress and the usiness of life.  In this workshop you will gain clarity about your Core Heart Essence, CHE, and learn to make conscious, purposeful life decisions in support of who you are.  You will create a self care plan that honors your CHE.  You will love this workshop, guaranteed!

Blessings,

Patricia

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday I gave a motivational speech to approximately 90 business owners at the Tour of Homes gathering, at Bates College in Tacoma, WA. These, mostly women attendees are a group of kind, compassionate, caring, and concerned individuals, committed to improving the lives of children and families.

What an important “calling” they have, to influence and teach the young children who will be our leaders tomorrow.  Performing this kind of work takes lots of motivation. 

My speech was on Motivation, which can be a challenge for many of us.  Even so, it is critical to our existence. Without motivation, nothing could be accomplished.  Books would not be written, children would not be born.  Houses would not be built, and child care facilities would never be attended. 

Here are some excerpts from my speech, including “Tips” to stay motivated from highly successful people, and some self reflection questions for you at the end:

One powerful characteristic of highly motivated people is their strong conviction that they will succeed.  They possess a fierce determination to achieve success, and they are committed and do what ever it takes, including overcoming obstacles in order to reach their goals.

Three Tips:

1. Surround our office or living space with evidence of our success, such as photos, certificates, and awards. Make a point of looking at them often to remind yourself of your success, and this will inspire you toward future action.

2. Take control of your SELF-TALK.  Many of us say negative, demeaning and cruel things to ourselves, and we are not aware of it.  Start talking to yourself the way you would someone you deeply care about. Be encouraging and positive with yourself.  How would you encourage and motivate a friend? What would you say?

3. Use the power of VISUALIZATION to help you stay motivated.  This is a widely utilized method to help athletes improve their performance and can help us too.  Visualize your success, in vivid details, and lin iving color.  Add your senses, feelings, seeing, hearing too.  Do this on a regular basis and see how your life changes.

Consider the following questions:

   1.  How are you affected by failure and setbacks?
   2   How do you benefit by being motivated?
   3.  What will it take to overcome these obstacles?
   4.  What will you begin?

Abundant Blessings,
Patricia

Your comments & feedback are always welcome and encouraged. For an appointment call 206-459-2898 or e-mail me at:   patricia@integritylifecoach.com   Home page http://www.integritylifecoach.com Copyright© 2007 Patricia Eslava Vessey…All Rights Reserved
 

To all the Mothers in the world, Happy Mother’s Day.

May you know you are deeply loved and appreciated not only today, but everyday. The work you do today shapes the future of humankind. This is not only an awesome responsibility, it is very difficult one. May those around you recognize this and support you in many ways.

Finally, may you be strengthened in body, mind and spirit for this most important role, and may you dwell in joy, peace, love and contentment always.

Blessings to you, Patricia

Hi everyone and Happy Spring!

I absolutely love this time of the year, I think it’s my favorite.  The cherry, crab apple andmagnolia trees are in full bloom in the Northwest, and so are the goregous tulips and  rhododendrons. I don’t know why it is, but every year my appreciation for the new life in the springtime grows. 

I created a new Spring ritual for myself recently.  Every time I go outside to get in my car or get out of my car to come into the house, I take a few minutes to stand under the vast array of blossoms from our extraordinarily amazing decorative cherry tree.  I gaze up at the beautifully formed and perfect flowers, and I reach up and touch one.  In doing this I am filled with appreciation at the wonder and beauty that fills the earth.

This ritual allows me to step outside my busy schedule, and bring something new into my life.  It gives me a fresh perspective and expands my view of the world, and my life.

What new Spring ritual are you willing to create in your life? Will you take a different route to work, go for a walk at lunchtime, spend more play time with your kids, or take time to smell the flowers?  What?

Blessings,
Patricia

Hi Everyone,

This is too important not to post in this blog.  Even if you don’t read every word, please scan it.  There  is valuable information for all of us in this article I received. 

Blessings, Patricia

 
1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not
show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few
billion.When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer
cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are
unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the
detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person’s
lifetime.

3. When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer cells will be
destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumours.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple
nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental,
food and lifestyle factors.
 
5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and
ncluding supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and
also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow,
gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver,
kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages
healthy cells, tissues and organs.
 
8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce
tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not
result in more tumor destruction.
 
9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and
radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence
the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and
become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer
cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by
not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.
 
CANCER CELLS FEED ON:
 
a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one
important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like
NutraSweet, Equal,Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is
harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses
but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make
it white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg’s aminos or sea salt. 

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the
gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and
substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is
acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef
or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and
parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.
 
d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains,seeds,
nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment.
About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable
juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to
cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of
healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and
drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and
eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at
temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea
is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-best
to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy
metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.
 
12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive
enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrified
and leads to more toxic buildup.
 
13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from
or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of
cancer cells and allows the body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer
cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence,
Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the
body’s own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like
vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the
body’s normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded
cells.
 
15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and
positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger,
unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic
environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax
and enjoy life.
 
16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising
daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular
level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.
 
(PLEASE SHARE IT TO PEOPLE YOU CARE ABOUT)
 
CANCER UPDATE FROM JOHN HOPKINS HOSPITAL
 
1. No plastic containers in micro.
2. No water bottles in freezer.
3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This
information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as
well. Dioxin chemicals causes cancer, especially breast cancer.Dioxins
are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies.
Don’t freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases
dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness
Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this
health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us.
 
He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using
plastic containers.
 
This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the
combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the
food and ultimately into the cells of the body.
 
Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or
ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only
without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and
soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in
something else.
 
Paper isn’t bad but you don’t know what is in the paper. It’s just safer
to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while
ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam
containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.
 
Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as
dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the
food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt
out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food.
Cover food with a paper towel instead. 

Spring is here, along with the urgency to clean our closets, weed our yards, and pack away our winter clothing.     

Through the shedding of layers of winter wear, we face the world with the reality of how much, or how little we’ve exercised the past few months.     

If you’re like most people, you can probably pinpoint exactly when you dropped the diet and exercise program.  And right about now, you’re probably regretting some of the choices you made. 

It’s easy to backslide in the winter months, and it’s amazing how many things interfere with our good intentions.  Well, don’t worry, the good news is that you can always begin again, so don’t give up.    You can start today by creating your spring training plan.  It should to consist of a good diet strategy, a weight-training program, and aerobic exercise activities.   

DIET