Relaxation of the mind, body and spirit is essential for everyone. Join me on an Audubon Sanctuary walk of Shinrin-Yoku: Forest Breathing on Saturday, June 27 by tapping into the earth’s energies as a powerful way to recognize the aliveness and interconnectedness of all living things, reinvigorate yourself and release stress.

By Dr. Roxanne Daleo

Breathing is natural. It’s given to you the day you’re born. Without breath, you have no life. 

But with breath, you have power! Everyone on the planet is given this gift. It’s yours… it’s the gift of life.

You’re breathing all the time, and yet you can forget that you are breathing. You can go through your day without awareness of breath – without awareness of your power. This is the gift, that your breath is a tool. 

Discover how to use your gift, and you’ll know your self. Know your self, and you’ll know your power; a silent power.

You have the ability to use your breath with intention. Using the Breath of Intention changes everything. Let me explain…

I once heard a story of a sea captain who sailed around the world using just his breath to fill his sails.  

If you have no breath, you cannot sail. If you cannot sail, you cannot move forward.  If you want to go anywhere, breathe… breathe deep to give wind to your sails.

Like the sea captain, breathe into your sails with all your might. Breathe with all your intention. Breathe with all your desire, passion and determination. You do this by holding within your mind and heart the picture of where you want to go.

You see? You’re creating all the time, whether you know it or not. So why not create intentionally? Why not use the power of intention, the breath of intention?

When you have no intention, it’s as if you’re lost. Like filling the sails of your boat, but your boat has no rudder, no way to navigate the seas. The rudder is what the captain uses to steer his boat. The rudder determines which direction your boat will sail. Do you understand? Lost intention is like going through your day – your life journey – without anything to give you direction.

Without a rudder, you will only flutter-

Without a sail, you’d surely fail.

With the two together: vision and desire, you can harness the wind and have a way to steer the direction of your boat- your life. 

You have the ability to create. You were born with it. So use your Breath of Intention – it’s natural; it’s your nature.

Unless you have a want – a desire – you cannot move forward. Although your desire is invisible, it has energy. Your thinking is the invisible force that fills the sails and moves your boat forward. Your thinking of what you desire and the “feeling good” feeling, the “feeling happy” feeling, about your vision is what moves you forward. It moves you in the direction of your desire.

To activate and energize your desire, use your Breath of Intention. You do this by holding the vision of what you desire as if you already have it. Feeling the happy feeling of having that vision NOW.

Your breath is constant; it’s a gift. Grab hold of it! Too many people lose focus.  Know that you can choose differently – it’s all in the rudder. You decide where you want to go. So ask yourself, “What do I want? What do I truly want?” 

Remember: Breath is life, and what you decide to do with your life is up to you. No one can breathe for you! Remember: treasures are hidden. But if you look deep enough, you’ll always find a treasure. Just be willing to look; be willing to try. Be willing to uncover the treasure of the love, peace and joy you are. And you’ll never lose your way.

Five Keys to Activate Your Silent Power 

Become aware.   Without awareness of your inner power and your breath of intention, you can blow as hard as you like, but you’ll only blow yourself in circles. Without a rudder, you go no where fast! Remember to become aware 

of the vision you hold – it will move you forward in that direction. 

Make an Intention. Make a decision to focus on what you intend to do. Is it exercise more, eat less? Or find the best “feeling good” feeling you can?

Become Fearless. Fear and doubt cancel out the breath of intention. Fear puts holes in your sails! Fear and intention can’t be mixed. If you hold onto your intention, you can access your power. And that intention, that power, has energy 

to activate your desire.

Become Responsible. Take responsibility for knowing the truth. The truth is you are love and peace and joy. This gives your vision life. You can hoist your sails and decide what you want. Breathe life into the sails of your intention. 

Become A Creator.  Be one who knows what they want and use your gift.

Breathe life into your intention by feeling what it will feel like to be where you want to be. Feel the energy of intention. You activate intention with desire

and commitment to never give up on yourself.  When you activate commitment, you create more breath, more energy, more power. Then, this silent power in you gives you the feeling as if that which you intend is already done. 

Contact Dr. Roxie for FREE GIFT https://drroxannedaleo.com/roxie/contact/

By Dr. Roxanne Daleo

Have you ever noticed the way a humming bird darts from one flower to the next, barely staying long enough for you to observe this little creature? Seems the humming

bird has mastered the art of “kissing joy”; it is the practice of the light touch. Touching

but not holding on or lingering on the sweetness or the non-sweetness of life as it navigates it’s world.

In my work helping anxious children help themselves calm down, I find it is their perception of the event in their lives that causes most distress. They are not realizing they are the ones who assign meaning to all events. Here’s an example: Katie explains, “this bad thing happened at school— everyone keeps looking at me and saying I look sad, am I ok?”

The essential ingredient for tapping into our inner resources is to understand we always have a choice about how we label the events. Our own mind can heal or hurt us; awareness is the path in to manage our ocean of emotion. Awareness is being present without labeling, criticizing, or judging.

The most common reaction to the good things that happen in life is to try to hold on, hold on tighter, making every effort to have that good stay and to wall out the bad stuff.

Try as we may, we don’t want anything bad to happen to us.; whatever “bad” is! And- if that bad thing does happen, we’ll say: ”This is a very bad, horrible, terrible thing!”

Rather than, suspending judgement and saying to yourself: “This is interesting…could be bad, could be good.”

In the teaching tale, Zen Shorts: The Farmer’s Luck, the story reveals the assumptions of what the neighbors call “bad luck” or “good luck” turns out to be the opposite. Through various experiences, the farmer resists the temptation to agree with his neighbors’ opinions. For example, his son falls off a horse and breaks his leg, everyone says, that’s too bad, bad luck! But, in fact, a few days later when the soldiers come to their village to take able-bodied young men off to war, his son is passed over because he has a broken leg!

Can we be both present to the experiences of our lives while, at the same time, being non-judgmental, accepting and curious?

Can we learn to see them, be with the experience without trying to push it away? Can we allow ourselves to feel difficult feelings, rest in it and be?

And if it is a happy, welcomed event, can you learn that ”kissing joy” as she flies by is a wonderful way to play with your imagination, tapping your inner resources in order to be present, notice, enjoy it but not become attached to it? Kiss it and let it go.

And then can you practice, with this same awareness, to be present, to notice when something seems awful? Watching your feelings of sadness without getting lost in them?

Like gathering, collecting all life experiences, noticing the contrast like the many shades of green in the early Springtime?

Say to yourself: “As I use all my senses to take note and savor, I am present and open to all the feelings in my life.”

The practice of “kissing joy” is an opportunity to become aware of how you can direct your mind to focus- without judging, without making a strong, negative opinion; but rather, just noticing and collecting.

Making a collecting basket, is a tangible way to practice this idea and internalize it for yourself and your child. Say to yourself, “Today, as I am filling my basket with the little things in life— good or bad, happy or sad. I am noticing and collecting with awareness, gentleness and gratitude.”

So fill your basket, as you expand your awareness. Say to yourself; “ I’m feeling the warm breeze on my face or

I’m hearing a song that makes me cry” …

Imagine putting it all in your basket for the day.

Throughout your day, you may want to place in your basket objects like a special photograph or the penny you found on the ground.

At the end of your day, the contents can be taken out and reflected upon as a form of awareness practice. Be gentle with yourself.

Then you can begin all over again the next day. Empty out the contents; let go of the previous day to make room for the new, the now, of today.

As in the ancient mediative tradition, keep your basket empty. When you do, it becomes a practice of taking in, breathing, watching, and recognizing the every day passing events–like ”kissing joy” lightly, not tightly!

As joy flies by as you’re on your way

Give it a kiss and go on with your day.

Embrace the fullness of all that you feel

Welcoming everything-keep even your keel!

Wisdom runs deepest, your open heart knows

To gather the highs, as well as the lows

“Kissing joy” instead of holding too tight

Offers the lesson: there’s no wrong, no right.

Spring has come again the earth is like a child who knows poems by heart.         – Rilke –
Want your child to feel as confident and happy as a child who knows poems by heart?

OPEN YOUR MIND TO THE POWER WITHIN YOU

Here’s how to use your innate ability to combat stress

By Dr. Roxanne Daleo

Many people know the mismanagement of stress weakens, not only, our immune system’s ability to fight infection, colds, inflammation, head and stomach aches, but also, causes emotional conditions such as anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance.

The truth is, not everyone knows that we have an innate ability to combat stress that returns the body to homeostasis or balance. This innate ability actually reverses the stress response.

Stress hormones trigger a chemical response, a kind of rush of energy. This rush of energy called the fight or flight response allows the body to run from danger or stand and fight, as our ancestors did in caveman days when we had to escape the saber-tooth tigers and such!

But today, we don’t have that problem, we have “invisible tigers” which are our thoughts of danger that turn on the stress response and never shut it off! Prolonged, without relief, our body under stress will cause us to experience mind/body symptoms.

It is your thoughts that drive your body’s response to stress. So if you want relief, you have to stay present and not let your thoughts take you for an unnecessary ride. It’s as if your mind has a mind of it’s own. Your thoughts can make you sick. So can your thoughts make you well.

But in order to feel relief, you have to learn how to tame your invisible tigers. Some kids are so used to being unhappy and stressed, they are addicted to their response. They may even think nothing will help.

If you want relief, you have to be willing to try something different, even if it’s unfamiliar. You just have to stay present long enough to change three things:

The thoughts that you are thinking

The behaviors and habits you do

The emotions you’ve memorized and identify as you (like “it’s just the way I am!”)

These three things are your habits. Habits of thinking, behaving and feeling; and the GOOD NEWS is you can change all three!

You see, learning a new skill changes your brain by making new connections. When you try something new you are firing and rewiring your brain. Isn’t that great? You have within you an innate intelligence that can restore your system, like installing a new computer program all you have to do is be willing to learn something new.

When you do, your recovery time shortens; you get out of stress mode quickly. You feel more resilient, confident and calm.

The most common ways to shift gears is listening to music, going outdoors for a hike in the forest. physical rhythmic exercise like running, biking, swimming or rowing. If you’ve done all these you may want help from a professional who will know exactly how to unlock your habits so you can train your brain and get lasting results.

Consider this: while your friends are doing the same things over the weekend, you could be learning to use the power of your mind, improving your outlook and getting ahead of the pack!

These early days of January are like walking a footbridge from the old year to the new.

And as I go on my merry way, reflections of the graces, the miracles, in my life come to me.

I take a moment of quiet, looking out on the stillness of nature, I hear life say to me:

“thank you for being a bright light, a spark of energy

the love and laughter, the peace and joy!”

And what comes to you and your child, as you reflect?

In this newborn year, may your heart be lifted from the old, yet satisfied by last year’s journey

Because that journey has taken you here, right now, in this new moment, in this new year

To birth, bring forth, the miraculous within you.

Imagine crossing over the bridge to the awareness of who you truly are- which is Love.

You are free.

Welcome the new you.

Over the crossing, you know you have what it takes to fulfill your potential and unique genius.

Make a difference in this world in need of your goodness and greatness.

Promise yourself, promise your child, to stay tuned-in to the life force energy in and around you

The rich, wild, other-ness of bird songs, cricket rhythms, the forest scent, the subtle colors of

the plants, the sunshine, the snow and the rain.

Look down over the bridge to running waterway; look up into sky, to the constellation of stars

Do not go unconscious of this awe-some beauty, but rather,

Come into a full-body, multi-sensory, part of all that is so much bigger and eternal-

The rushing wind is the holy name of the Divine

and when we take in that breath, we take in the Divine

Stay awake.

Shine on brilliantly.

Happy New Year!

Mind/Body Healing Techniques Combined With Expressive Arts Therapies

with Dr. Roxanne Daleo

I. Presentation Description:

Working from the premise that according to years of psychological literature, the unconscious represents information symbolically, therefore it is an appropriate lens through which to view our inner life. Also, applied here is the mind/body research

known as psychoneuroimmunology from which evidence establishes that higher nervous system centers effect astonishing changes in the body functions. Combined the use of

both are a powerful process which helps individuals discover through their own efforts

insight and inner resources to induce self-healing.

II. Learning Objectives:

a to familiarize students with basic theories of mind/body research

b to promote an appreciation of the role of art as a healing process

c to aid students in applying the understanding of the combining these two

modalities in their work with children and adults in educational and health care

settings.

d) to develop a repertoire of skills in mind/body healing techniques combined with

expressive arts therapies

About the Author:

Roxanne Daleo, Ph.D. is a Health Educator with specialized training in relaxation and stress reduction techniques from the Harvard Medical School, Division of Behavioral Medicine. Her expertise is based on over 20 years of experience with chronic and terminally ill, meeting the emotional needs of children and adults using expressive arts therapies both at Boston Children’s Hospital and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Dr. Daleo’s doctoral studies took an anthropological, cross-cultural approach in the use of symbols for healing from the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich, Switzerland.

Dr. Daleo is best known as creator of the highly acclaimed, MindWorks for Children: Guided Imagery Relaxation Journeys. She continues to design and produce audio-visual programs for patient education, health promotion and expressive arts.

She sits on the Board of Directors for the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA) as Co-Chair of Educational Resources Committee.

Program begins January 6, 2019

For more information or to register, please contact DR. ROXANNE directly at

https://drroxannedaleo.com/roxie/contact/

“ …and that’s true love!” said my grandpa… his voice made my mind conjure up the entire scene: I see it as if it were real, mom serving dessert after a big Italian-American feast for Thanksgiving Day, always prepared with love by my parents in what I believed to be our beautiful New Jersey home. But the fact is, it was only my grandfather’s voice coming from an audio cassette player. A tape I nearly tossed in the trash moments before to clear the clutter from my garage. So glad I have this priceless treasure today.

Through “imaging” you mentally “see.” Your brain takes the audio input of a voice and provides

you a “mental picture”. In this case, it pulled out a memory of the past and my brain served up a scene so vivid you relive it as if it were happening in the present. My grandfather’s philosophy about true love were his words of wisdom I’ll treasure forever.

Your brain can also take an idea or visualization to create a future-self. Your brain can be directed using mental imagery which is really a kind of storytelling.

When you add the auditory aspect, such as a voice, you add a person’s energy because your voice is the blueprint of your soul. Listening to the sound of your own voice is a powerful way to imprint and direct your subconscious mind.

Add the background music and the brain automatically enhances the imagery experience as if it were real. The mind makes no distinction between real and imagined information; this is why using guided imagery narrations for relaxation are a powerful form of mind/body medicine.

Scientists are learning how we manipulate and examine pictures of the mind and develop internal states of awareness, resilience and balance.

Many world cultures have been using the power of mental imagery in the form of storytelling.

Let’s look at the Native American culture specifically, they have been using the art of telling stories passed down from one generation to the next as their primary form of wisdom communication. Traditionally, Native Americans transmit by story their mythology, spiritual and historical understandings of themselves and the world in which they live to their children.

Storytelling creates the mental imagery in the minds and hearts of the young, that which elders did not want forgotten. In this way, the elders ensured young would not lose sight of their roots,

important knowledge that would allow them to live in harmony and cooperation with the natural world.

So this Thanksgiving why not try to capture more voices of the elders in your tribe, the seniors in your family. Allow them to pass on their words of wisdom to the children as part of the formal celebration for which we are giving thanks and deep appreciation. In this way, you can be sure

your children and their children have your family’s important knowledge through the beautiful storytelling tradition.

7 Keys to Cultivate Storytelling Family Tradition

1.Give your children and their children a beautiful way to honor their elders by asking questions about their roots, heritage, country of origin and the ways of their people.

2.Use a recording devise to capture and remember forever, the voices of the senior family members and their words of wisdom.

3.Make the bedtime ritual include recounting meaningful memories you made this Thanksgiving holiday (holy day).

4.Create a work of art. Draw, paint, sing a song or dance your newly realized wisdom tradition.

5. Each year collect keepsake photos, images and quotes in a box or a book.

6.Ask your child to express the kind of person they want to become; share the vision of a world they want to see and live in.

7.Have your child record their own voice to express their visions. Speak about appreciation, love and peace. Play this recording before sleep so the subconscious mind can bring good thoughts to every cell in your child’s body.

This is how to handle test taking – it’s called mental rehearsal and another technique to solve test anxiety is guided imagery relaxation audio programs.

VISIT: www.drroxannedaleo.com
I have CD’s for home and school practice
Sign up here for more information (place link to contact page AND directly to my email)

Our schools are designed for the “average” student—but in my experience working with both genius and learning challenged children, here is what I know, for sure—there isn’t anything average about your child!

The more understanding you have about standardized tests, how much kids vary in their working memory and how these tests are designed to force kids to jump through unnecessary hoops that may not highlight their strengths, the better you’ll be helping your child help himself.

Discover 3 essential keys when you sign up here for free

1. To optimize your child’s learning style

2. To optimize your child’s learning environment

3. To optimize your child’s strategies for success.

Intelligence is not only cognitive, it is emotional and social. If you know how to develop

all three, it is more likely your child will enjoy not only academic achievement, but even more importantly, social adaptability and emotional stability as well. Research in neuroscience which investigates cognition and learning are pointing to specific methods which build the various intelligences necessary to succeed in all educational settings and life.

Just as we must teach our child penmanship, first by writing letters, then words, then

sentences. So too, we must teach them behaviorship and thoughtmanship.

You can work on this immediately.

Now I’m wanting to offer something that is even more in-depth: for me to offer all my best insights, coaching, strategies, visioning and support. In-depth personal advising and empowerment,

Basically, I’m offering to become the personal mentor to an exceptional parent or teacher

When you teach young children to ride a bicycle, it’s not so easy at first. But once you learn how, you know for life. Many children start by using training wheels, which are gradually raised higher and then removed as they get their balance.

In a sense, guided imagery meditations are like training wheels that you use until you learn how to cultivate the art of paying attention for yourself. Over time, we develop the

capacity to improve our quality of attention to other aspects of our moment-to-moment

experience- breathing, body sensations, hearing sounds, all sorts of perceptions of the eyes, ears, nose, mouth and body and then to the whole domain of thoughts and emotions. This is how we cultivate “intimacy with the spaciousness of awareness. An

awareness that can hold any or all objects of attention and then bring that awareness into everyday life.

“Thus, the true meditation practice becomes how you live your life, not how well you sit on a cushion. What we are really talking about is awareness.”

The various objects that we can pay attention to are of importance but most importantly, is the attending itself, awareness itself.

The use of rhythm and rhyme throughout the guided imagery is a mechanism intended for appeal to children tapping the unconscious mind tapping their inner resources, inner strength…which brings about a shift into deep relaxation of the mind/body with daily practice you and your child can actually experience peace right here in your own body, in your own mind, in your own life.

You can take my word for it- guided imagery is a powerful tool helping children help themselves.

Tell me about your experience and successes!

Visit: www.drroxannedaleo.com