Bonnie's Blog

Challenge or Opportunity?

2009 has been a year of great lessons and blessings. In June I moved my office to 2149 Velp Ave. in Green Bay. I was very excited about the move, as I have never had a suite of my own before. The three patio doors and wrap-around deck are what sold me on the space. It is very much my style and has great energy! You can take a tour of the office on the home page of this website. 

In late June my son and his wife, who live in Vancouver, Canada, came home and we were able to have a belated wedding celebration for them. They had been married almost two years earlier, and family and friends were not able to attend the wedding in Canada. It was a wonderful event! 

On July 26, my husband Mike and I were in major car accident, and I was seriously hurt. You can read about it on the previous blog posting.  Many blessings and lessons came from that accident. I was able to go back to work after only 6 weeks, which was miraculous!  I began slowly, seeing only a couple clients a day and then gradually increased. 

The biggest lesson and blessing from this event in my journey was the power of prayer, good energy and positive thoughts. I have always been mindful of the healing power of these intentions, but now I had first-hand experience. My recovery was nothing shy of remarkable, and I truly believe it was due to the prayers, thoughts and good energy. During the entire time, I do not remember ever having a negative thought about the accident or my injuries. I always felt at peace during the healing process, therapies, etc. The medical doctors could not explain the fast and amazing recovery, and were baffled. I know I am not the only one to have experienced this type of healing. I have read countless stories of people who survived the odds against cancer and other life-threatening events. I feel honored to be among them. 

I also believe we all have the power of the angels with us, both earthly and celestial angels. I’m sure we can all remember people who acted as “earth angels” and help us in many ways. Sometimes we don’t even realize the assistance they are giving us at the time. The celestial angels are often just waiting for us to ask them for help, and they are happy to serve. Whatever your belief in angels or God is, know that you are not alone in this world. 

Even the challenges we face in our lives are sometimes just an opportunity to grow or achieve what we have been asking for. If you look at challenges in this way, it is easier to feel good. I heard a line in a movie about challenges once and thought it was appropriate to share. Morgan Freeman (who I think was playing the part of an earth angel) said, “If you ask for patience, do you think God gives you patience or the opportunity to develop it?” This is the thought I leave you with today. Notice the challenges in your life and reflect on the opportunity that challenge is giving you to learn or do something you have been asking for.

Blessings, Bonnie

An Update for The Bridge to Health Readers

Let me share with you a bit of what has been happening with me.  On July 26^th of this year, my husband and I were involved in a serious car accident. Late at night we hit a vehicle that did not stop at an intersection on the highway. I hit my head during the crash and was in a coma and on a ventilator for a couple of days. I suffered a brain injury and some bruises, but no broken bones. My husband had bruising and soft tissue injuries, but did not have to be hospitalized. The seat belts, air bags and guardian angels really helped us from being hurt any worse.

For the past several weeks I have been in the hospital and at home recovering. I only needed to stay in the hospital for 10 days, where I received a lot of rehabilitation and therapy. Once I went home, I had speech therapy three times a week for a month and had a few physical therapy sessions as well. I made tremendous progress, and was finished with therapy and ready to return to work part time in just over 6 weeks from the accident. 

I am thankful every day that I had the opportunity to recover, as I realize not everyone gets that chance. I have also had many insights throughout this experience and would like to share some of them with you. I have had the opportunity first hand to see the benefits of positive thoughts, prayers and energy.

My story was put on the Caring Bridge (www.caringbridge.org/visit/bonniegroessl) by a friend of mine, and there were hundreds of people praying and sending positive energy and thoughts to me. I am sure my recovery progressed faster than it would have otherwise. As far as my thoughts, I never had any doubt that I wouldn’t be fine. I just assumed I’d have a complete recovery and never thought that life wouldn’t be the same.  I also received Reiki while in the ICU. The recovery, minimization and healing of a facial injury was miraculous. I took my vitamins/supplements every day and also took some homeopathic remedies. Basically, I had a lot of help and added that to the traditional treatment. I truly don’t think I would have recovered so quickly otherwise.

In the process, I also realized what is most important and that we are meant to enjoy life, cherish each moment, love those around us and be thankful for our blessings. What I want you to take away from this is that there are many avenues on the path to healing and getting well, and the more we incorporate those and believe we will be well again, the better off we are.  We all have the ability to heal and get what we want in life.

Meditation for Busy People

Many people think the only way to meditate is to sit crossed legged and be still for a long period of time, with an empty mind. Although you can meditate that way, there are many ways to learn to live in the present moment and practice meditation in your daily life. 

Meditation is not necessarily clearing your mind of all thought or having an empty mind. Rather it is directed concentration, a bringing to center…focusing your attention to something so intently, that the mind chatter falls away and you can feel calm and peaceful. It may be focusing on your breath (which is always with you) or gazing at a beautiful sunset, taking in the beauty of that one moment, without thinking about the future, or the past. Focusing so intently on that present moment, that your thoughts stop wandering and your mind is still.       

Often times the breath is used as the focus of concentration, and is an easy way to begin a practice. A candle flame, mantra, sound, prayer, or imagery may be used as the focus of concentration as well. There are many ways to meditate, so find something that fits for you.

When I first began my meditation practice, I couldn’t sit still, so I began while jogging in the wooded trails near our home. I paced my breathing to my jogging stride and just tuned into the rhythm. As thoughts come in, I just acknowledge the thoughts and go back to my rhythm. Before long, I could actually sit still and just focus on my breathing. Thoughts come and go, I acknowledge them and without scolding myself, and gently escort my attention back to the breath. Some days there are a lot of thoughts, especially if my life is really busy. I need to bring my attention back to the breath many times. It doesn't matter if your mind wanders for 5 seconds or 10 minutes, it's important to just bring your attention back, gently. I guess it’s called a practice, because you don’t get there over night. I like to think of it as a journey, just like life itself. Eventually there may be less thoughts and you will be able to focus more on your object of concentration, like the breath. The key is to be kind with yourself.  

Pema Chodron uses the analogy of training a dog to stay. One can train a dog to “stay” with brutality, yelling at it and hitting it and it will learn to stay, but the dog will not be flexible, able to adapt to changes easily and may be fearful and unhappy. If you train a dog to stay with compassion and kindness, he will still learn to stay, and he will be flexible, able to adapt, be happy and have a sense of humor as well. So what kind of dog do you want to be?

Visit http://www.myrelaxationcenter.com  for a recording of my CD “Meditation for Busy People”. You will also find many other quality products for relaxation and good health on the site. I have taken great care to research and provide only the best products on this website.    

Balance

As I prepare to present my first webinar on The Law of Attraction next week, I think about children and am aware that we all start out pretty good…we naturally daydream about things that make us feel good, have imaginary friends, and all sorts of adventures in our minds. Children laugh over 300 times a day while adults laugh an average of 15 times a day (and that’s a good day). I know very few people who giggle like a child. When is the last time you had a good belly laugh? Children are so uninhibited, they say the what they think (and get away with it J)  It's great!!

As we grow older, we go to school and have responsibilities added to our lives. Perhaps we were told to “stop looking out the window” or “stop daydreaming and pay attention to class”. While I appreciate that children need to learn while in school, I think sometimes this stifles our ability and natural tendency to daydream as adults.  When we are young, we often see our parents and other adults model behavior that encourages us to think that working hard and struggling is the way to live and there is little time for fun, daydreaming or just doing nothing. I grew up on a farm and there was always work to be done. The upside is I have a strong work ethic, the downside is that I have had to really “work” at relaxing and feeling good about taking time to just dream or do nothing (without feeling guilty). I see a lot of people struggle with this issue in my clinical practice.

Ideally we should have a balance of work, play, spirituality, relationships, and time for just ourselves. “Non-doing” is usually not looked at favorably in this culture, yet I believe it is essential for our well-being.  I encourage you to take time this weekend and daydream, have a good belly laugh or just do nothing for awhile.  It’s really healthy, so give yourself permission!

If you want to join the free webinar (Make the Law of Attraction Work for You)  on Wednesday, May 20^th at 7:00 pm central time, just contact me at bonnie@thebridgetohealth.org and I will send you the link to sign in.

I have scheduled the first webinar! 

The topic "Making the Law of Attraction Work for You"

Because this is new and I am learning the technology, I am offereing this class at no charge. I hope you will consider joining us on Wednesday, May 20th at 7:00 PM Central Time. Just let me know if you are interested and I will send you the link to the webinar before the class.

Abundance is a feeling, not what you have. When we don’t have what we want (money, health, relationships, etc), it’s hard to feel abundant. According to the Law of Attraction, we need to feel abundant to get what we want in terms of abundance. So we use all the will power we can muster to feel this way, and sometimes it still doesn’t work.  That’s because our subconscious minds have a much greater impact than our conscious mind does. Will-power is a conscious mind thing. You need to recruit the power of the subconscious mind as well.

In the webinar this month you will learn how to use imagery and make shifts in your subconscious mind to get what you want and make the law of attraction work for you. You will learn how to communicate with your subconscious mind and a simple self muscle testing technique to see what your subconscious mind is really thinking. This is where it really counts, as conscious will-power is only about 5-10% of the picture here. 

The webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, May 20^th at 7:00 pm Central time.

I had the opportunity to speak at the Wisconsin Nurses Association Pharmacology Update this past weekend. I spoke on a holistic approach to depression. The participants were advanced practice nurses (nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, etc.)  As always I packed so much into the talk, that I didn’t leave time for questions at the end. I guess I just have so much to share.  Anyway, there are always people who come up to ask questions afterwards and this time was no exception. I always stick around if I can. I wanted to share with you the experience I had with one of the participants. She came almost running up to the front after the presentation to be the first one there and took my hand with a two handed hand shake and thanked me profusely for the presentation. She was so excited and I could tell she was passionate about her work. She didn’t have a question. She just wanted to thank me. She told me this is just what she needed and couldn’t wait to try some of these things with her patients.  I think the reason I love to teach is because it doesn’t end with me, it goes on through others. By her gesture, she made my day as well!

A few years ago I had seen an elderly woman in my practice and taught her the relaxation technique that is on this website (see free relaxation technique) and she came back a couple of weeks later and told me she taught all of her friends on a bus trip. She said the bus driver thought there was something wrong at first, as they all became so quiet. I thought that was great…I love being part of the ripple effect.

We don’t have to teach a class or a technique to be part of the “ripple effect”. We are ALL a part of this everyday in the things we say and do…random acts of kindness, sharing a smile with someone, or just acknowledging people. When my husband and I go to a restaurant we always interact with the wait staff. We ask them their story, where they are from, etc. We have had a lot of interesting conversations and met many wonderful people along the way. I hope in some small way we have touched their lives as well. I encourage you to be aware of your actions and notice what type of a ripple you are sending out there. We all impact each others lives everyday…sometimes we don’t even know we are doing it or maybe don’t even know the person, it’s just someone we passed by on the street. Notice what ripples you are sending and as always…feel good!   

There is a particular angel card that keeps coming to me when I chose two every morning. It is “answered prayer” and it says: "Fear not, beloved one, your prayers are heard and have been answered. This card has come up 5 out of the last 7 times. (Anything 3 or more is really significant!) 

Things may not always come in the package you expect it to, but if you ask…it is given. Three weeks ago I had no intention of moving from my present location and then circumstances lined up, events happened, and connections manifeseted to deliver something I had been asking for. Let me give you some background first…

My husband, Mike and I play the lottery game often because it makes us feel good. To play the game you see what the power ball jackpot is and pretend you win it. (You don’t even have to buy a ticket, just pretend you do). Then we spend 20-30 minutes talking about how we would spend the money. Not just in generalities, but we spend time talking about the details. Because our brains don't know the difference between real and imagined, it creates a wonderful feeling of abundance.

As an example, we know what attorney we’d call, how we would set up a foundation and screen the applicants, etc.  One of the things I always fantasized about was building The Bridge to Health clinic. I would have extra room so other providers could rent out the space and then I could offer more services. Again, I did it in detail and felt good as we were talking about it.

On June 1^st, I am moving into a suite at 2149 Velp Ave. in Green Bay.  I just made the decision less than two weeks ago and a week prior to that I had no idea I was going to be moving, but the universe lined up events, people and circumstances and I just fell into it. This space is great and has an extra room that I can rent out. It’s a smaller scale than I imagined when playing the lottery game, but it’s really what I was asking for. My office furniture, paint and carpeting is ordered and everything is falling into place so quickly. The rent is affordable and the location and suite itself is perfect!

Every prayer is answered, our challenge is to believe it!

The rain has lifted and I see blue skies, it feels so good to see the sun! J

Often times we may feel trapped by life’s conditions. This may be especially true with the state of the economy we face today. Sometimes I think we forget that we have the ability to choose how we feel. A millisecond before we have a feeling, we decide to hold it. Often this is an unconscious decision, based on our life’s experiences, values and beliefs. When we are faced with unpleasant circumstances in our lives, it’s sometimes difficult to “choose” to feel good about the situation. But it is still our choice. Let your emotions guide you…if you feel good you know you are attracting what you want. If you are having negative emotion you are not headed in the direction of what you want. Now, we all veer off the path, that’s human nature, so just recognize it and choose to feel a bit better. You don’t have to feel great…just better, then reach for the next better feeling thought, and so on.

Your brain doesn’t’ know the difference between real and imagined, so tell your story the way you want it to be, not necessarily the way it is at the moment. I want you to think about the stories you tell (to yourself and others) and be just be aware if it’s what you want or not. 

I drew an angel card for my readers today. It is "Answered Prayer"...and this is what is says: "Fear not, beloved one, your prayers are heard and have been answered." This reminds me how often I forget and maybe you do too, that when we ask...it is given. Often the challenge is to allow the answer. Sometimes the answer does not come in a way we expect. I am doing a presentation for the Brown County employees on Monday on the the Law of Attraction, and thought this card was very fitting, as it says the same thing. If you are interested in the Law of Attraction, I will continue to put write more posts on this topic. It's one of my favorite topics to speak on. Everytime I draw this card it's a good reminder for me to allow what I have asked for.  Life can get in the way sometimes and we may lose sight of all the good things we should be focusing on and putting our attention to. You know you are allowing what you have asked for when you feel good. Our emotions are a great guidance system. More on this next time...until then feel good!