A Spring Cleaning caution – and an invitation.

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Sara

If Spring Cleaning is in your plans this season, use caution. Spring Cleaning can be great but it can also fool you into thinking that getting rid of “stuff” is a finite project or an annual event. It can also set you up for disappointment if you try to take on too much and then don’t make as much progress as you hope. Baby steps.

If you feel inspired by the emergence of Spring, go ahead, give an extra push to clear things out, clean like crazy…. just remember that creating a beautiful “feel good” home requires thoughtful attention and action – every day. A home filled with love and “good energy” is the by-product of a gentle, loving, continuous process, not just a Spring push.

To learn how to keep the magic of Spring working in your home throughout the year, join me this coming Monday, April 8th at 7 p.m. EST for my HouseHeal teleseminar (*free*!).

I not only will be sharing life-changing insights about creating a beautiful love-filled home and taking questions “live”, I will also be making a very special offer to people listening.  If you are ready for changes at home and in your life, don’t miss this call!  For details on how to join in, be sure to get on the e-mail list at www.househeal.com!

Remember, your home (and how you feel there) is a reflection of how you are, not who you are. Who you are is always beautiful!

 

Do you trust yourself?

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Sara

Pay attention – your answer to this question could seriously change your life: Do you trust yourself? Really? Do you trust when you truly deeply know something? Do you notice and trust when something doesn’t feel right? Not just every so often – but every hour of every day?

Whether you call it your gut, your intuition, your internal guidance, whether you feel it deep in your bones, as a chill up your spine or just a feeling you recognize, you are receiving really beautiful, helpful guidance all the time. But if you are like most people, you are often too “busy” to stop, listen and notice what feels right.  And you miss something vital to your well-being.

Your home gives you a spectacular environment to practice recognizing and trusting what feels good, what feels right to YOU. When you trust and follow what feels good and true, issues at home  – papers, clutter, décor, repairs, relationships, general overwhelm, whatever you are experiencing – begin to get resolved. Life becomes easier. And then the fun really begins! That’s what my teaching is about: living every day from what feels good to you, beginning at home.

To learn more about trusting what you know at home join me next Tuesday evening March 5th at 7 p.m. EST on my free live teleseminar. Be sure to sign up at www.househeal.com to get details on how to join in – and mark the date on your calendar! Bring your questions!

In the meantime, be kind to yourself, and remember that creating a beautiful, love-filled living space is one of the kindest things you can do!

 

No time? You can change that.

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Sara

Ever feel like you don’t have enough time, especially at home? Consider this fact: the statement “I don’t have time” is never true – unless of course it is a purely mathematical calculation of time, as in “I don’t have time to get to the store before it closes”.  In reality, you have the same amount of time as everyone else – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is up to you to choose how you spend it. Everything you do with your time, whether you realize it or not, is a choice.

Now stop here for a second, and breathe. This is BIG. In fact, this is a huge subject for a morning message! Your beliefs about time are entwined with deep emotions – and can enable you to avoid dealing with deeper personal issues (ouch!). But I want you to help you start questioning in ways that will make a difference to you. And nothing will make more of a difference to you than noticing what you do and think at home, and seeing how much of that doing and thinking is your choice. Be prepared to be shocked and amazed.

Here are 3 things you can do to feel like you have more time:

  • Stop telling yourself don’t have time. Really. If the words “I don’t have time” cross your lips – or your mind – hear alarm bells in your head. Thinking you don’t have time will make it feel real. So stop it. Change your thoughts. Resonate with “I have time for everything that is important to me. My days flow with ease.” and notice how different time feels.
  • Embrace the power of one minute. One of the biggest breakthroughs you can have around time is seeing for yourself just how much you can do at home in a minute or two. Especially when you feel like you don’t have time, take a minute to tidy the kitchen, make your bed, or put on a load of laundry – do something to contribute to the order and beauty of your home. Do this  several times day. This habit not only teaches you the power of a few seconds, it also raises the vibration in your home, and energizes you, making time feel expanded.
  • Admit where you have a choice. As you go through your day at home, ask yourself, does this activity contribute to me feeling in charge and excited about life? What can I do at this moment to bring love, order and beauty into my life at home? See where you have been “leaking” time. See where you are “avoiding” dealing with what is there, physically and emotionally. Begin to change your choices of activities, bit by bit, and notice how time seems to expand. Bonus: As you become more conscious of your time, you can also enjoy times of personal leisure on a deeper level as you let go of guilt around not being “productive”.

To learn more, read my book HouseHeal: Transform Your Life through the Power of Home. You can get a signed copy from me (sara@househeal.com) or order from Amazon.

Be sure you have Tuesday, March 5th at 7 p.m. EST on your calendar for my next fr*ee teleseminar!  

Also watch for more details soon about my new HouseHeal course starting April 8. If you are ready to make changes in your life, beginning at home, you will love this course!

Thank you for being with me on this beautiful path. I love hearing from you and knowing that this work is making a difference to you. Keep questioning – it is in the exploring that the answers come to you!

What it takes to live from love.

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Sara

Last week I confessed that I have been hiding behind the comfortable topic of “home”, rather than talking openly about what my HouseHeal teaching is really about – and that is learning to love yourself, beginning at home. When you are kind to yourself at home, you are pulled into inspired action, and your home becomes more organized, beautiful and filled with love, naturally . Here’s the trouble:  knowing that to be true does not make love and self-kindness suddenly happen. Living from love requires learning and practice. That’s where my teaching comes in.

When you learn how to see what is there, your home can give you hundreds of clues to help you recognize thought patterns that keep you “stuck”.  As you shift your thinking, step by step, action at home becomes easier, and life begins to feel different; life begins to feel good on a whole new level. That’s what HouseHeal is all about: feeling good about yourself and life, beginning at home.

If you are ready to make changes at home, here are some things you can do:

  1. Read my book from start to finish, and then read it again. The teaching goes      deeper every time – allow it to sink in. If you don’t have a copy yet, get a signed copy from me (sara@househeal.com) or order from Amazon.
  2. Mark your calendar and join me Tuesday, March 5th at 7 p.m. EST for my next fr*ee teleseminar! Thank you everyone who was on last week’s call and for your questions! It was fabulous!
  3. Imagine yourself taking my new HouseHeal course starting on April 8 – “live” from your own home – wherever you are in the world! This is a new course      designed to give you the deeper learning and personal support you need to      make real changes at home and in your life! Registration details will be      announced March 1 – but decide now to join in. If you want to take the course but issues around time or money pop into your head, have faith. If you feel      called to do the course, time and money challenges will dissolve – I promise. Just start to think about what you want for yourself now and get excited! More details to follow soon.

Thank you for being with me on this beautiful path. I love hearing from you and knowing that this work is making a difference to you. Keep questioning – it is in the exploring that the answers come to you!

I have a really powerful confession.

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Sara

I was at a house-warming party the other night and someone asked me “So, what is your book about?” I know I am supposed to have my perfect “elevator speech” ready to roll off my tongue, but I found myself stumbling and over-explaining, and not doing my book justice. The last couple of days I have been wondering why I have such a hard time answering what should be a really simple question.

The answer dawned on me yesterday as I was walking our new puppy. I realized that by saying to people that my book is about creating a beautiful, organized home, I have been attempting to play it safe. I have been trying to stay in what I thought was my (and other people’s) comfort zone while, ironically, I was feeling very uncomfortable.

So, here is my confession: I have been stumbling over questions about my book because I have been withholding the truth. I have been hiding. Not any more. I am ready to embrace the truth, which is the fact that even though you will experience a more beautiful, organized home as a result of applying the teaching in my book, that’s not what my book is about. My book is about loving yourself. My book is about loving yourself, beginning at home.

I wish you could feel how good it feels in me to finally say that. Wow. My book is about loving yourself, beginning at home. My book is about loving yourself, beginning at home. My book is about loving yourself, beginning at home. Your home is simply the feedback tool that helps you to bring more love into your life. Now I can’t wait till the next time someone asks about my book! What an incredible relief.

So here’s my question for you: What “comfort zone” are you clinging to that, if you were to be totally honest with yourself, is actually feeling quite uncomfortable? Ponder that one and let me know what you come up with! It could be a huge breakthrough for you.

If you are ready to love yourself more, beginning at home, remember join me tomorrow for a fr*ee HouseHeal teleseminar – it’s going to be a powerful one, with a special announcement:

Tuesday, February 5th at 7:00pm Eastern

Attend via Phone or Webcast – you choose!

DIAL IN: 206-402-0100*, Guest Code: 970859#

* To avoid long-distance charges use LOCAL Dial-In Numbers:
http://InstantTeleseminar.com/Local/

OR TO ATTEND VIA COMPUTER, CLICK THIS LINK:

http://InstantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=37915887

Tell your friends to sign up on my web site www.househeal.com and join in too – all are welcome!

Your call to action – Tuesday, Feb 5th at 7 p.m.!

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Sara
A few weeks ago I saw New York Times best-selling author and well-known spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson speak inPalm Desert,California. She was amazing – probably the most grounded, clear, consistent, passionate speaker I have seen. At the end of the truly inspiring talk, the person next to me leaned over and said “She was fabulous and I really believe all of this, but what do I do now?” I understood exactly what she meant.
For years, on my personal quest for happiness, I found many powerful “personal growth” tools, but, sadly, very little to help me know what to “do”. That’s why I created my HouseHeal teaching – to give people (including me!) an easy, practical way to integrate powerful universal principles into daily living and become truly, deeply happy. When people tell me that my book HouseHeal: Transform Your Life through the Power of Home has profoundly changed their life, it reminds me how important it is to take this teaching out further. So I am reaching out to you.
If you are looking for change in your home and in your life this year, join me this coming Tuesday, February 5th at 7 p.m. EST for a fr*ee teleseminar with insights and inspirations to help pull you into action at home. You will be glad you did…in fact, your life may never be the same!
 
Be sure you are on my email list (www.househeal.com) to receive details shortly on how to join the call – and reserve this Tuesday at 7 p.m for YOU.

 

Shopping locally for home improvements.

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Sara

We are in the midst of some home improvements right now, and I am having a lot of fun shopping right in our local neighbourhood. Our painters Gus & Chris grew up nearby and buy their paint from  owner-operated (as the name implies) Peter’s Paints a few blocks away. Our dining room chairs are currently being reupholstered at Princess Perfect around the corner from our house where Lisa Jo, the owner, is keeping a close eye on things for
us. We found our vintage rosewood dining room table (small enough for euchre
but opens up to seat 10!) at Studio Pazo down on Queen St. E., where owner Leo has been very helpful and patient through our many visits.

Last week we ordered beautiful custom-framed mirrors from Tim & Lillian at Frames and Pictures where we get personal service, unbelievable quality and great prices. Yesterday, I was at family-owned Carpet Mill to look at carpet samples for our stairs (our current stair carpet of course now pales next to the new paint!). And the list goes on.

Shopping at small businesses close to home is not only easy, it feels good.  I love adding to the local economy – money is meant to move around. It’s healthy for everyone. A recent study in Salt Lake City, Utah, found that the local retailers put back roughly 52 percent of revenue back into the local economy, compared to 14 percent for the big retail chains. That’s a big difference. If you want to find out more check out  http://www.pvlocalfirst.org/economic-studies - some important stuff.

There is a place for big retailers too – I still shop at Home Depot (got our light fixtures on-line from http://www.homedepot.ca/ – delivered to the door!) and Canadian Tire for lots of things, but making an effort to support local retailers as much as possible just makes sense. Along with the local economic benefits, there something heart-warming about being
called by name when you walk in and knowing that you are helping business owners to make a living doing what they do best.

What can you add to your local owner-operated economy? Get out and have a look! There are some great businesses out there with great products and services for you to discover!

 

 

 

Know what to do at home? You might want to think again.

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Sara
Years ago when I was a corporate meeting planner I designed a group activity in which participants were put into small groups and told to create a short skit to illustrate the principles they had learned from speakers that day. When the groups took the stage, some were hilarious, brilliant and engaging, and some fell seriously flat.  I discovered afterwards that the groups who had been brilliant had welcomed input from the professional drama coach I had hired to go group to group, and the ones who bombed had said to the coach “No thanks, we know what we’re doing.” Funny, huh?

I re-created that activity several times, and the results were the same each time. The people who welcomed coaching performed HUGELY better than ones who thought they knew what to do.

I find the same now with people and their homes. The people who think they know what to do and try to do it by themselves miss something really important. The people who believe that all they need to do is to de-clutter and re-decorate miss the point. What I teach goes far deeper than clutter and décor.

HouseHeal is about learning to live from a place of love and beauty, every day. It’s about recognizing that your home is a powerful place to practice being kinder and more loving towards yourself and others. It’s about ackowledging your natural power to create a beautiful life for yourself in every way, beginning at home. It is about living with love, beauty and ease, naturally.

The concept is easy to embrace but trust me, it takes practice. To live it, you need support. We all do. So here is my invitation to you:

Your Invitation for Fr*ee Support and Coaching: I am offering a fr*ee teleseminar this coming Tuesday evening, July 17th at 8 p.m. EST until 9.  Sign up now at www.househeal.com. For one hour, you will have the chance not only to hear insights directly from me on how to create a beautiful, love-filled home with ease,  no matter how much time or money you have, but you will have a chance to personally ask questions, live. Mark your calendar now – you will receive the dial-in (phone or web) details before the call. If you like, you can e-mail questions to me ahead of time to sara@househeal.com.

All are welcome – tell your friends and family they can sign up too at www.househeal.com.

Next Thursday in Toronto:  If you live in the GTA you are invited to an Open House at 592 Danforth Avenue in Toronto next Thursday, July 19th from 7 to 9 p.m. I will be there with my award-winning book HouseHeal: Transform Your Life through the Power of Home, and answering questions in-person. I will also be showcasing some beautiful brand new hand-made beeswax candles made by a friend’s son. Tell your friends and family!

Upcoming Classes: Next week I will announce my new schedule of HouseHeal into Practice classes in Toronto – truly life-changing…..if that’s what you are looking for!

Until then, live with love and beauty every day – inside and out!

 

 

 

Summer is a time when most of us just want to relax and take it easy. At the same time, it is often when we hold out hope for having the time to get around to things at home. Perhaps you have a list of projects you would like to get to this summer? Here’s a secret: time is never the obstacle to getting things done at home. Really, it’s not. When you are ready for change, you find the time – any time.

You may have experienced it – even if you have an entire week free to dedicate to “getting things done” at home it doesn’t matter if you are not prepared emotionally.  Try all
you want, give it your best shot, but taking on things at home is never pleasant or productive unless you are ready. Getting things done at home is always about your state of mind and your readiness to see what is your choice and within your control. Everything is energy and unless your personal energy is a match to what you want to create at home (beauty, order, peace, love, comfort), your home will not change.

So here’s my suggestion for summer: Give yourself permission to do nothing beyond normal daily care and maintenance at home. Remove the feeling of pressure. Let yourself bask in the feeling of knowing that everything is perfect order, trust that life can feel easy, and that all will be done in perfect time. Let go of the little voice of judgement in your head that tells you that you need to be active and productive. Relax. Think kind and loving thoughts about yourself. Have fun. Let go.

Here’s the thing: when you are really ready for change, even if you try to relax you won’t be able to stop yourself from getting into action. When you are ready for change you experience the joy and liberation that comes with shifting the energy of your home through physical work, and are able to take action with ease. When you are ready for personal transformation, taking on projects at home is as healing as a vacation, perhaps even more so on some levels.

So this Summer, relax. Let go of self-criticism….and see what happens. You might be surprised at how good what happens in your home feels…even if it is nothing! Ironically, learning to feel “good enough” while doing nothing might be just what you need to propel you forward!

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Sara | Leave a comment

Just 5 minutes a day changes everything.

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Sara

Did you know that 5 minutes a day is enough to make a huge shift at home? Five minutes of focused daily activity is enough to expand your awareness and appreciation of order and beauty, and begin reducing your energetic tolerance for “stuckness” or chaos. Everything is energy, and as your energy shifts, things in your home will shift – naturally.

Every day, at least once, see how much you can accomplish in a 5-minute push. Use a timer to get you started. Maybe you can make your bed and clear off your bedside tables. Maybe you can refresh your bathroom – give the counter and sink a quick wipe, and purge a couple of stale shampoo bottles, change the towels and empty the garbage can.  See how much you can tidy in your entrance area, maybe pick up papers and straighten cushions in your living room, or wash a few dishes and wipe the kitchen counters. Select a well-used area of your home and go for it. Notice your thoughts, and keep it fun.

As you develop the habit of cleaning and tidying in short daily bursts, you will begin to create a progressive “new normal” for yourself. The turning point comes when you are cleaning up more mess than you make each day, almost without trying ….and begin looking eagerly for more to take on!

Getting things done at home is not always a matter of self-discipline; it is about aligning energy so that action comes easily. One of the biggest mistakes you can make at home is to try to do too much at once. Take one step at a time. ..starting with just 5 minutes.  As you shift the energy around you, bigger projects will follow naturally.