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Honoring individuality or disempowering the whole?

by Terah Drake, posted in Uncategorized

Hello, beautiful;

We are all looking to feel greater empowerment in our lives. Greater authenticity. Greater individuality.

This is a beautiful thing.

But when individuality becomes separation, this can also disempower us.

When we create labels – or allow others to create labels for us – that create greater separation between us as a society; as a whole, we are also disempowered as a whole. 

When birds in a flock fly united in a certain pattern, or a school of fish swims together, they do this in part to appear larger to or escape as a group from predators.   This idea translates to humans, as well – as our forefathers understood well: United we stand, Divided we fall.  

When we are divided and disempowered as a group, we are also more fear-based and dependent upon the large-scale “parent” institutions such as government, religion, and corporations.  

Maybe it’s time that we recognize the damage we are doing to ourselves and our society with these labels and ways to create greater separation and less unity. 

Maybe it’s time that we looked at the possibility that all of the labels we are putting so much emphasis on might just be instigated by the parent institutions that benefit the most from our lack of unity.  

Maybe it’s time to see the labels that we once used to identify our individuality – “Black.” White”. “Brown.” “Yellow.” “Straight.” “Gay”. “Trans” “Asian-American” African-American” “Native American” have become tools to create greater division between groups of people.  

 Maybe it’s time to consider that the thousand and one other labels that are used to separate and create damage to our psyche such as “Karen.” “Ken.” “Snowflake” “Boomer”. “Young” “Old” “Vaccinated.” “Unvaccinated” – might just be being used against us rather than for us.

Maybe it’s time to stop looking at those things that separate us and start focusing on those things that unite us.  We are one people.  One Planet.  

I’m not saying we shouldn’t celebrate our uniqueness.  Not even slightly. 

I geek out hard on things that many wouldn’t such as brain/body biology, quantum physics, spirituality.  I also love travel, writing, reading, dancing, cooking, eating, animals, family/framily, coffee, style and a hundred other things that make Me uniquely Me – and I honor and celebrate those traits and qualities that you geek out about and make You uniquely You.  

You are magnificent!😍

It’s amazing and beautiful that we each are this incredible amalgamation of genes and environmental factors.  Truly.  

But when we focus on division between us of those larger aspects such as race, sexual orientation, political division, religious affiliation, age, health preferences or whatever seems to be the current trend dictated by the media and social media – we no longer have ownership of our individual identity and uniqueness.  

Rather, we lose sight of honoring and celebrating our own and others individuality in favor of the corporate mentality of a select few.  

Here’s a visual to better explain what I’m trying to portray:

Imagine being at a huge music festival.  There is a stellar lineup of bands and musicians.  The music is just phenomenal.  (Kind of like our planet and Source.)

At first, everyone is having an amazing time.  It’s a pinnacle experience.

But soon after the festival begins, instead of the thousands of quirky, fun, funny, music-living folks attending being united in enjoying the incredible vibe of the festival, people divide into small groups of forty or fifty people.  

Let’s say there are the Boho style groups, the “hippie” groups, the Dave Matthews Band groups, the classical music groups, the rock and rollers, the cowboy boot groups, the beanie hat groups and the floppy hat groups – all huddled up, feeling self-righteous about their group – but also fearful, insecure and angry because everyone else isn’t in their group.  

Pretty soon, this insecurity causes a few in each group to start shouting about their way being best because such and such government entities, religious organizations, style experts or health groups said it was the right way.  Before you know it, all the groups are screaming at each other, the music and the vibe completely forgotten. 😣

How long do you think it would be before the shouting turns to violence?  How long before the musicians stop playing and walk offstage?  

How many of us have forgotten the music and the vibe that created us and this amazing planet – as a result of buying into the labels and separation?

But we can bring the music back when we stop using those labels to separate us and begin to celebrate our uniqueness while also honoring  those things that unite us.  One tribe, one vibe.  

United we stand, friends.  Divided we fall.  

Much love!

  • Terah

The Frequency Formula for Creating our Best Reality

by Terah Drake, posted in Uncategorized

“I think, therefore I am” – Descartes

Hello, Beautiful;

In this final part of this series, I’m going to give you the formula – and the practices that will take you from Woe to Wow.  From dis-ease to ease.  

To begin, let’s go back to our core belief systems for a moment to discuss how it relates to Personality = Personal Reality.  Our Personality is created largely through our Personal Belief System, and our Personal Belief System creates our reality.  

 Here’s the basic formula for how we create our reality each day:

CBS + T + E/F +B + H = E/R  

Core Belief System (CBS) = Thoughts = Emotions/Feelings/Frequencies = 

Behaviors = Habits = Experience (Results)

Let’s break that down:  

Our Core Belief System, those neurological patterns and programs that began to be established in early childhood, tend to keep us running in a subconscious loop that are based upon our past experience.  

If as children we lived in a home where lack was the norm, it will be difficult to move past the idea that we live in a reality of lack. 

Our Beliefs will perpetuate the thoughts and emotions of lack. (How many times do parents say “we can’t afford this.  We are broke”  Or “we will buy you the cheaper version of what you really want.”  These words create our reality and personal sense of value as children.)  

Those thoughts and emotions of lack will create behaviors that reflect our beliefs. The emotions/feelings of our Core Beliefs cause our brain and body to create neurochemicals.  These can either create physical dis-ease and dysfunction, lowered immune system and a host of other symptoms or greater health, or increased immune function and energy and well-being, depending on whether our thoughts and emotions are positive or negative.    

They also create our behaviors and habits – I have a little extra cash in our pocket.  Because I believe I live in a state of lack, I spend it on some trinket – rather than saving and eventually investing in a healthy future.  The results of these habits of course just reinforce our initial belief – I spent all of my money and I am in lack again. I will always be in lack. And so we are…

Or another example – My parents taught me that I am clumsy.  As an adult, I am constantly falling on stairs, dropping dishes, etc. because I believe I am clumsy.   Falling on the stairs or dropping dishes confirms that Core Belief, putting us into vibrational alignment, which creates more similar experiences.

If we grew up in an environment where our personal reality was abundance, our pre-set programming for continuing to thrive in an environment of abundance is greater.  We will never feel a sense of lack and our behaviors and habits will reflect that.  

Of course, there are different types of lack and abundance beyond the material.  If our family was wealthy but lacked emotional intelligence or love, we will still be more likely to live a life of lack as adults.  Conversely, if we had parents that were financially lacking but loving and supportive emotionally, our capacity for thriving in an environment of abundance as adults is much greater.  

It is important to note that if we experienced childhood or adolescent trauma, our ability to create a life that reflects high personal value will be less, as well.  

This being said, we have to look at a new formula for creating the life we wish to see:

Access/Acknowledge CBS + Reprogram thoughts/Shift emotions + Alignment (Establish behaviors & habits to reflect new reality)+ Behaviors/Habits = Results/Reality

  • In order to create a new reality for ourselves, we have to access and acknowledge the source of our limiting beliefs.  What lines have you drawn in the sand without realizing it – where are those boundaries of belief and what is the origin/source?  What are the thoughts and feelings that accompany these beliefs?

Once we have accessed those beliefs and memories that are perpetuating our subconscious programming, we can begin to reprogram the mind. 

  •  Ask yourself how you would like to expand the boundaries you had previously created for yourself, likely without even realizing you had drawn those lines in the sand?  Visualize wiping those lines away.  
  • Write it down! What do you want to see in your future reality?  Vision boards are a great way to create greater clarity in visualization.  

A vital aspect of beginning to move into that future reality is the emotional vibration of it.  Can you imagine yourself there?  How does it feel? 

For example – If you have a dream of living in the Caribbean, see yourself on the beach.

Feel the warmth of the sand between your toes, cool trade breezes dancing off your skin.  See the crystal-clear turquoise of the water before you.  Imagine your beautiful plantation-style home behind you, surrounded by tall palms and lush greenery. 

I love the feeling of being on a motorcycle.  While I don’t currently own one, I often go back to the feeling visualization of racing through long country roads, green trees rushing past.  Or the wind buffeting my face as I cruise along the California coastline, tall madronas on towering cliffs above the wild Pacific ocean.  

What future reality would you like to see for yourself? It works, believe me. I’ve easily manifested sports cars, homes, amazing vacations around the world, vintage campers… and as just a few examples.  Remove your limits and start visualizing!

Clear your mind.  Get quiet.  Imagine the version of you/reality you wish to see at a distance of say, half a mile away.  Now begin to move in a straight line towards that point. Feel into that space.  Feel the joy there.  Feel the possibility there.  Feel the excitement in that space.   

Try to remain in this mindstate for as long as possible.  The longer and more often we can sustain this higher frequency state, the faster we will notice the fulfillment and manifestation of that reality.  But if you can’t quite get there all the time, give yourself love and grace.  Go back to that one happy thought that can get you closer to that future self.  

Next we need to create habits and behaviors that reflect the personality – personal reality – we want to see.  

  • A habit of presence and gratitude is an essential component in creating a better reality.  Remember that heart coherence creates a healthier body and mind and a vibrational resonance that we send out into the world around us and the quantum realm/Source frequency.  
  • Desire/Ask/Believe/Receive – But what is the vibration in which you are asking?  Tuning in to where our mind is frequently and keeping a daily gratitude journal will help keep our energetic frequencies and neurochemicals vital, healthy and happy.  
  • Create a daily habit of movement and nourishment. How you move is up to you, but daily exercise keeps both mind and body healthier and in a higher vibrational state.  

Find those other habits and behaviors that reflect the reality you are creating.  

Do you want to become an artist?  Paint!  Take classes.  Experiment with different forms of media and components. 

A writer?  Write every damned day, even if it’s only for a few minutes.  

Do you want to open a small (or big) business?  Look into an LLC and a business plan.  

Whatever your dream, try to come back to the state of being that future self (personality) holds as much as possible.  Remember that we are looking for alignment with that ideal reality/personal reality.  A good mantra is simply the question: Am I aligned?

From this place of alignment and coherence, watch the miracles begin to unfold.  I can’t wait to see what the future holds for you, beautiful one.  You deserve every good thing your imagination can hold, and more!

Much love;

  • Terah💖
Continue reading “The Frequency Formula for Creating our Best Reality” →

Reality Formula – Creating Alignment with the Life of your Dreams

by Terah Drake, posted in self-development

“I think, therefore I am”  – Descartes

Hello, Beautiful;

In this final part of this series, I’m going to give you the formula – and the practices that will take you from Woe to Wow.  From dis-ease to ease.  

To begin, let’s go back to our core belief systems for a moment to discuss how it relates to Personality = Personal Reality.  Our Personality is created largely through our Personal Belief System, and our Personal Belief System creates our reality.  

 Here’s the basic formula for how we create our reality each day:

CBS + T + E/F +B + H = E/R  

Core Belief System (CBS) = Thoughts = Emotions/Feelings/Frequencies = 

Behaviors = Habits = Experience (Results)

Let’s break that down:  

Our Core Belief System, those neurological patterns and programs that began to be established in early childhood, tend to keep us running in a subconscious loop that are based upon our past experience.  

If as children we lived in a home where lack was the norm, it will be difficult to move past the idea that we live in a reality of lack. 

Our Beliefs will perpetuate the thoughts and emotions of lack. (How many times do parents say “we can’t afford this.  We are broke”  Or “we will buy you the cheaper version of what you really want.”  These words create our reality and personal sense of value as children.)  

Those thoughts and emotions of lack will create behaviors that reflect our beliefs. The emotions/feelings of our Core Beliefs cause our brain and body to create neurochemicals.  These can either create physical dis-ease and dysfunction, lowered immune system and a host of other symptoms or greater health, or increased immune function and energy and well-being, depending on whether our thoughts and emotions are positive or negative.    

They also create our behaviors and habits – I have a little extra cash in our pocket.  Because I believe I live in a state of lack, I spend it on some trinket – rather than saving and eventually investing in a healthy future.  The results of these habits of course just reinforce our initial belief – I spent all of my money and I am in lack again. I will always be in lack. And so we are…

Or another example – My parents taught me that I am clumsy.  As an adult, I am constantly falling on stairs, dropping dishes, etc. because I believe I am clumsy.   Falling on the stairs or dropping dishes confirms that Core Belief, putting us into vibrational alignment, which creates more similar experiences.

If we grew up in an environment where our personal reality was abundance, our pre-set programming for continuing to thrive in an environment of abundance is greater.  We will never feel a sense of lack and our behaviors and habits will reflect that.  

Of course, there are different types of lack and abundance beyond the material.  If our family was wealthy but lacked emotional intelligence or love, we will still be more likely to live a life of lack as adults.  Conversely, if we had parents that were financially lacking but loving and supportive emotionally, our capacity for thriving in an environment of abundance as adults is much greater.  

It is important to note that if we experienced childhood or adolescent trauma, our ability to create a life that reflects high personal value will be less, as well.  

This being said, we have to look at a new formula for creating the life we wish to see:

Access/Acknowledge CBS + Reprogram thoughts/Shift emotions + Alignment (Establish behaviors & habits to reflect new reality)+ Behaviors/Habits = Results/Reality

  • In order to create a new reality for ourselves, we have to access and acknowledge the source of our limiting beliefs.  What lines have you drawn in the sand without realizing it – where are those boundaries of belief and what is the origin/source?  What are the thoughts and feelings that accompany these beliefs?

Once we have accessed those beliefs and memories that are perpetuating our subconscious programming, we can begin to reprogram the mind. 

  •  Ask yourself how you would like to expand the boundaries you had previously created for yourself, likely without even realizing you had drawn those lines in the sand?  Visualize wiping those lines away.  
  • Write it down! What do you want to see in your future reality?  Vision boards are a great way to create greater clarity in visualization.  

A vital aspect of beginning to move into that future reality is the emotional vibration of it.  Can you imagine yourself there?  How does it feel? 

For example – If you have a dream of living in the Caribbean, see yourself on the beach.

Feel the warmth of the sand between your toes, cool trade breezes dancing off your skin.  See the crystal-clear turquoise of the water before you.  Imagine your beautiful plantation-style home behind you, surrounded by tall palms and lush greenery. 

I love the feeling of being on a motorcycle.  While I don’t currently own one, I often go back to the feeling visualization of racing through long country roads, green trees rushing past.  Or the wind buffeting my face as I cruise along the California coastline, tall madronas on towering cliffs above the wild Pacific ocean.  

What future reality would you like to see for yourself? It works, believe me. I’ve easily manifested sports cars, homes, amazing vacations around the world, vintage campers… and as just a few examples.  Remove your limits and start visualizing!

Clear your mind.  Get quiet.  Imagine the version of you/reality you wish to see at a distance of say, half a mile away.  Now begin to move in a straight line towards that point. Feel into that space.  Feel the joy there.  Feel the possibility there.  Feel the excitement in that space.   

Try to remain in this mindstate for as long as possible.  The longer and more often we can sustain this higher frequency state, the faster we will notice the fulfillment and manifestation of that reality.  But if you can’t quite get there all the time, give yourself love and grace.  Go back to that one happy thought that can get you closer to that future self.  

Next we need to create habits and behaviors that reflect the personality – personal reality – we want to see.  

  • A habit of presence and gratitude is an essential component in creating a better reality.  Remember that heart coherence creates a healthier body and mind and a vibrational resonance that we send out into the world around us and the quantum realm/Source frequency.  
  • Desire/Ask/Believe/Receive – But what is the vibration in which you are asking?  Tuning in to where our mind is frequently and keeping a daily gratitude journal will help keep our energetic frequencies and neurochemicals vital, healthy and happy.  
  • Create a daily habit of movement and nourishment. How you move is up to you, but daily exercise keeps both mind and body healthier and in a higher vibrational state.  

Find those other habits and behaviors that reflect the reality you are creating.  

Do you want to become an artist?  Paint!  Take classes.  Experiment with different forms of media and components. 

A writer?  Write every damned day, even if it’s only for a few minutes.  

Do you want to open a small (or big) business?  Look into an LLC and a business plan.  

Whatever your dream, try to come back to the state of being that future self (personality) holds as much as possible.  Remember that we are looking for alignment with that ideal reality/personal reality.  A good mantra is simply the question: Am I aligned?

From this place of alignment and coherence, watch the miracles begin to unfold.  I can’t wait to see what the future holds for you, beautiful one.  You deserve every good thing your imagination can hold, and more!

Much love;

  • Terah💖

Heart Coherence – Creating Alignment with the Life You Love

by Terah Drake, posted in Uncategorized

Hello, Beautiful;

We talked yesterday about the importance of finding a sense of gratitude in the present moment – in order to become more aligned with the future we wish to see.  The more often we can hold ourselves in this state of gratitude and presence, the closer we become to accessing the quantum field of possibility and achieving resonance with Source – putting power behind our prayers.  

Another of the beautiful aspects of coming into alignment with our highest selves is that we obtain a sense of peace and gratitude in the moment that causes heart coherence – our heart beats with a steady rhythm.  There is no irregularity or arrhythmia; only too common occurrences these days.  

As I mentioned in an earlier post, heart coherence reduces cortisol and adrenaline and increases output of Immunoglobulin A which increases immune function by up to 50% (!) and creates greater access to available energy.  

Studies have been done on measurable photons in the energy field surrounding the body while in a state of heart coherence. The increase in these light waves – accessible energy – is typically more than doubled. 

Wow, right?

But here’s what’s extra cool about achieving heart coherence:  When we achieve this state, our bodies produce a chemical hormone called Oxytocin.  Oxytocin is the “love hormone” that puts us in a state of bliss and connection.  This release of Oxytocin causes the heart to release a chemical called Endofillial Derived Relaxing Factor.(EDRF) 

EDRF causes the vessels of the heart to expand, not only creating greater oxygenation and blood flow, but also acting as an amplifier for all of those positive hormones and neurochemicals.  

The amplification of these hormones not only causes intense feelings of bliss but can also reset the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for processing fear and holding past trauma.  This means achieving heart resonance can literally rewire the brain.  Now that is just pretty frickin’ AMAZING.  

Stay with me, because here’s where we begin to learn the practice behind all that we have been learning about so far.  

It’s important to recognize that we can’t always immediately get into this blissful state when we have been stuck in negative thought patterns – but we can get closer to it.  

And just practicing being closer today means eventually, Bingo!  You will find yourself heart-centered, healthier, and amazed by the feeling of joy that your brain and body produce.  

When we are in this space, we begin to arrange our values, thoughts, habits, and energetic vibration (vibrational frequency) to reflect the person and reality that we want to be and see.  

We become a vibrational match for that wonderful reality that we have dreamed of. 

So how do we begin to get closer to alignment and coherence when we feel stuck?  

We start by leaning into the feeling of any thought that is better than where we currently are. 

Here’s an example – If you, like me, are someone that has suffered from Insomnia, you know that when you wake in the middle of the night, the mind tends to start racing.  

Often the thought patterns that keep us awake for hours on end aren’t necessarily happy ones.  Many years ago, I would find myself awake most nights from midnight to 4 or 5 am.  This went on for months. 

At first, I called it “doing the work” as I processed through trauma of the past for hours on end, but eventually I realized that I was no longer processing through but was instead stuck in that past pain.  

So, on the advice of Wayne Dyer, Dr. Joe Dispenza, Dr. Bruce Lipton and other experts and self-development gurus, I began to shift my thoughts to one thing that felt better in my life.  

Walking the beach with my beautiful children and happy dogs.  

Chatting with my dad over coffee on religion, mechanics, and co-creation.  

The brief but meaningful exchange I had with a beautiful stranger at the grocery store or the park that morning.  

Time spent with friends.

Teaching classes.

A beautiful bouquet of peonies or Stargazer lilies

Or whatever else I may have recently experienced that made me feel good. 

Before I knew it, a sense of peace and gratitude lulled my mind back into relaxation and I was fast asleep.  

What is vitally important here is that we don’t just think about those things that make us feel a little better but we feel or lean into the positive emotion of those memories.  This changes our neuralchemical output and begins to re-structure the brain.   

We don’t have to suffer from insomnia to practice this.  

The best time to start this feel-good meditation is in the morning, before any obstacles of the day can influence how easily we are able to access the feeling of gratitude, (I highly recommend beginning a gratitude journal each morning) but we can reach for that next good feeling any time of the day or night, bringing us closer to that place of alignment with our future selves and blissful heart coherence.  

Practice:

  • Find someplace quiet to sit or lie down in a comfortable position.  Close your eyes and take your focus to your breath, breathing deeply into your abdomen from your nose.  
  • Allow your mind to quiet, bringing the focus back to the breath each time your mind becomes busy.  
  • Observe thoughts without engaging, like watching clouds float across the sky.  
  • Think of one positive thing from the day, or the day before if you are practicing in the morning – or even something you are excited about that is upcoming.  Feel into the gratitude of that thought and space. 
  • Try to notice if that feeling is in your heart center.  If not, see if you can bring it closer to the center of the chest, just behind the sternum.  Try to stay in that place of feeling good for at least five minutes, or longer if possible.  

Each time you feel yourself beginning to cycle downward during the day in your thoughts or emotions, try to come back to that place. Practice makes perfect.😎

Tomorrow – Part 5 in the Anxiety to Alignment series:  

Personality = Personal Reality…

Creating a New You to establish a New Reality. 

Much love!💖

Alignment

by Terah Drake, posted in Uncategorized

Hello, Beautiful;

Yesterday we spoke about learning to move from being a victim of your environment to achieving a life of living the dream – Your dream, whatever that may be. 

And believe me, if you have dreamed it, that future is there for you, waiting in the Realm of Possibility (ROP) – the place that holds possible, probable and definite futures.   It’s up to you to decide which future gets sent to the front of the queue.  

Maybe up to this point, you have gotten glimpses of what might be in the queue, but haven’t figured out how to make those possibilities into reality.  

Maybe you feel stuck in the place you are now, and that place just doesn’t feel good as often as you would like.  

Maybe that wonderful reality you are dreaming of feels just out of reach.   But it is closer than you think, and you absolutely are capable of achieving all of your dreams.  But it will require a few tweaks to current behavior modes and changing up your internal – and possibly external – environment.  It also requires us to begin to observe what Core Beliefs set in the past might be influencing our current behavior.   

We can begin the process of shifting to a greater reality by asking some vital questions:  

What future have you been queuing to the front of the line to this point?  Do you feel like a powerful creator or a victim of all the negative things life has brought to you? 

If the answer is the latter, it’s time to alter our current trajectory to move from woe is me to WOW is me. 

But how do we get from allowing our past pain to dictate our present reality rather than allowing our Truth – our highest self – to create the wonderful reality that is exactly right for us – whether that is a partner, a career/business, the perfect property/home, or whatever else you might dream up?

The answer begins with one word:  Alignment.

When our thoughts and emotions become aligned with a new paradigm – the reality we want to see rather than the place we feel stuck in, we can begin to reprogram any dysfunctional Core Beliefs we may have.  We shift our negative mindset into a positive.  

This is where the “magic” of creation can begin, and where people begin to see healthy new habits formed and their lives begin to shift for the better, oftentimes dramatically.  

Tune in tomorrow to learn some methods to begin moving into alignment with your best reality.

Much love!

– Terah

Formula for Creation Part I

by Terah Drake, posted in Uncategorized

Hello, Beautiful; 

The next few days I am going to take you through a series designed to give you the formula for changing your life for the better, from woe to WOW!, from being a victim of your environment to becoming a deliberate creator.   This formula is science-based and may be the most powerful thing I’ve ever written.  

So don’t scroll past.  

You can not create a positive life with a negative mind. 

Let me put this another way:  

You can not create the life of your dreams if you are living in survival mode.  

If you are experiencing anxiety, fear, frustration, anger or depression on a regular basis, you are in survival mode.  

In this lower frequency (14-40 Hz) Beta brain wave state, your brain is producing cortisol and adrenaline on the regular.  Your heart-brain coherence will be deregulated and your energetic resonance lower, which means you have less access to your energy reserves for brain and body use.  You also produce less energy in your magnetic field, what some call the aura.  

This is measurable and documented in thousands of studies.    

It’s not just a matter of damaging neuropeptides and chemicals, either.  

Your thoughts produce an electrical charge.  Your feelings produce a magnetic charge.  

The combination of these two charges create a resonance that you broadcast into the world at large – measurable in brain and heart monitors and “picked up” by those around us – as well as into the quantum field; that place where we best communicate with Source/God.  

So when we are in chronic stress, we are broadcasting messages of fear.  Of lack.  Of pain – instead of messages of love, faith, joy, and creation.  

And then we wonder why we stay in those same patterns and create the same circumstances over and over and over again; or we wonder why our prayers for a better life aren’t being heard.  

Our prayers are being answered.  We just don’t realize that our resonance isn’t asking the same thing that our mouth is.  

What’s interesting about this is that the Bible specifically says to “pray with thanksgiving”.  Gratitude is mentioned 71 times in the New Testament alone.  The Qur’an mentions gratitude numerous times and is considered a fundamental teaching of Islam.  Buddhist teachings are to cultivate gratitude as an attitude or habit.  

If we want better for ourselves, we need to be in a higher resonance or vibrational state before we start asking, and we need to stay in that state as we ask.  Gratitude is the perfect place to access that higher resonance. 

 If we can do this, miracles can begin to take place.    

Stay tuned tomorrow for a breakdown of how we alter our current trajectory to move from woe is me to WOW is me?

Love Thyself; Love the World. Heal Thyself, Heal the World

by Terah Drake, posted in Uncategorized

Listen, babe.  This world is absolutely glorious and worthy of our love and devotion even though it is a little broken.  

For that matter, we are all a little broken, but still absolutely glorious and worthy of love.  

We’ve all got our past traumas and shiznit that we have to deal with – and we really do need to acknowledge those parts of ourselves that are broken so we can come up with a plan to heal. 

Sometimes the way we work through that brokenness; that shiznit is like Grace.  Like beauty.  Like kindness to ourselves and others.  On those days, our broken shards come together with seams of gold.  We use our history to create a greater, more compassionate future and a world that is poignantly beautiful.  

I love the Japanese concept of Kintsugi – repairing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum – to create something even more beautiful.  We can relate this to the process of working through our brokenness to create greater beauty and meaning in our lives.

Other times dealing with our past looks like a train wreck.  We just can’t seem to get those pieces together.  We deal, and we deal, and we deal some more, and it doesn’t feel like we’ve made any forward progress at all.  

On the days that we feel the most broken, it is important to create an environment of love and grace for yourself.  To acknowledge that there is still beauty to be found – in ourselves and in the world. 

Here are a few steps to keep us moving in the direction of healing and wholeness:  

– 

  • Acknowledge your hurt – get to the root of your trauma.  Talk to yourself.  Ask where you need extra love, grace and healing.  Allow any emotion that comes up to flow naturally through you.  Be with those feelings for a bit.  Then move on.  
  • Learn to love yourself.  Take time for self-care. What makes you feel good?  Hot baths?  Exercise?  Good, nourishing food?  Time with loved ones or pets?  Art?  Whatever makes you feel happy, follow that bliss.  
  •  Stop judging yourself and others.  What we judge in another is something we dislike in ourselves.  
  • Set healthy boundaries.  Remove toxic situations and people – with love, of course. 
  • Reprogram.  Give yourself daily affirmations.  Repeat until you feel the truth of your worth and beauty, then repeat some more.  Listen to guided meditations.  I start each day with a session of positive affirmations embedded with Solfeggio Frequencies; specific auditory frequencies that help our minds and bodies to resonate at a similar vibration.  I really enjoy Jason Stephenson’s YouTube videos. Here’s a link to one to try:  https://youtu.be/GnWlERK0UJci I recommend listening with good headphones.  I keep a pair next to my bed and slip them on first thing upon waking to listen. 
  • Count your blessings.  Start a gratitude practice, listing at least 5 things you are grateful for each morning and evening.  See the beauty in everything.  Stop giving negative bullsh#t your attention, whether in the media, in your family/friend group or in your mind.  Elevate your consciousness.
  • Move your body.  Even just 15 minutes of exercise each day will increase your vitality and well being significantly.  
  •  Nourish yourself.  Feed your body food and drink that make you look and feel your best.  You deserve to feel fabulous in your own skin.
  • Find meaning and purpose.  What makes you excited?  What brings you joy?  How can you serve others  in a way that feels amazing?  

This list translates individually, collectively, and of the world itself.   We can’t ignore the damage we have done to our planet and the other species that share this beautiful earth.  We must acknowledge the harm we have created, then shift our focus to solutions for a better, more whole future.  The world, like us, is a little broken but still glorious.  Also like us, it is broken because of what we humans have done.  But we can not only repair the damage but make this world a paradise – if we choose to.  I don’t know about you, but living in heaven on earth – in our own bodies and minds and in our environment – sounds pretty amazing to me. 🥰

I hope today, beloved, you see the world in all its tainted glory and love it in spite of it’s damage.  That you also see yourself, whole or broken, as a beautiful creation and love every aspect yourself.  Every cell, every fiber.  You are worthy of your own love.  And if you aren’t quite there yet, know this – I see you.  I value you.  And I love you💖

  • Terah

Connection or Identification?

by Terah Drake, posted in Uncategorized

Big breath on today’s post, babe.  I’m going to get deep on one of the key barriers to self-acceptance, authenticity, freedom and happiness.  I’m talking about those things that hold us and keep us trapped in stagnation, unable to move forward – our attachments.  

This might hurt a little as we rip off some band-aids, but it will be so worth the healing if you read to the end.  Of course, implementation is a necessary step in growth, but you’ve got this and I’m right here with you every step of the way.   

Forming attachments is a necessary and vital aspect of human existence.  If we didn’t have a connection with our friends, partners, children, and communities we would be isolated and depressed.  This is science – it has been demonstrated in numerous studies that humans are happiest when they have social support.   (http://ccare.stanford.edu/press_posts/good-social-relationships-are-the-most-consistent-predictor-of-a-happy-life/)  

We form connections and attachments to our homes, schools, pets, professions and jobs, sports teams, sense of style and a hundred other things that we identify with on the daily. 

But that is where it can get tricky.  

We need connections, but our self-worth can get so very wrapped up in those things that we identify with.

We become attached first to a thing or person, but at some point, that thing or person becomes part of who we believe ourselves to be. It is only too easy from there to lose sight of ourselves as we wrap our sense of identity up in a person, place or thing.

Connection is spirit-based. Identification is ego-based. Here’s an example many can relate to: I really love my morning cuppa joe. I would even go so far as to say I have an attachment to it. The ritual of preparation, the aroma of the freshly ground beans, the rich, cinnamon-laced chocolatey goodness as it pours into my special mug each morning is one of the things that starts my day out right. I do drink organic coffee because unfortunately, coffee is one of the least regulated food products on the planet and tends to be contaminated with mold, pesticides and a variety of other yuck that we really should never put into our bodies. Just sayin’.

But enjoying my early morning deliciousness because it makes me feel amazing vs. considering myself a “coffee snob” who only drinks XYZ coffee at XYZ time of the day with XYZ people, who of course are the best kind of people moves me from healthy connection and mentality to ego-based identification.  

I use coffee because it’s an easy example for me, but we can insert whatever attachment rings true to you – sports teams (are you obsessed with the Seahawks/Redskins/Greenbay/etc., or do you watch for the enjoyment of the sport?) to relationships (I couldn’t possibly live a happy, healthy life without my Spouse/Partner/BFF/Hookup/etc.)

Are you still with me? Here’s where we get to the real meat of the subject.

If we come to a place where that something or someone becomes so intrinsically attached to our value that we lose who we truly are, what happens when we no longer have that thing or person?  What happens when the relationship or attachment becomes toxic or no longer truly serves who we are or who we wish to be? 

When this happens, it is time to step back in order to come to an awareness of how those attachments might be holding us back from freedom, from being who we are – and who we were meant to be.  

Here’s where we rip off the band-aid and let go of those things that are familiar to us when they no longer serve or have become toxic.  Let’s be frank – it is so hard.  We humans like routine.  We like the familiar.

Or maybe better to say that we are most comfortable with the familiar.  

Stepping out of a long-held comfort zone feels – uncomfortable.  Hard.  If you are in a place where you are being forced to let go of something – or someone – deeply familiar and are overwhelmed by negative emotion, don’t beat yourself up for struggling to “let that shit go” because babe, you are not alone and there is a reason it’s hard.   

The pain of this emotional withdrawal  is a combination of our biology and our ego.  Our ego likes to create identity.  It makes us feel like we belong somewhere, that whatever we are makes us valuable –  “My name is Terah.  I’m an empath.  I’m also a mother, writer, artist, martial arts and yoga teacher and intuitive healer.”  And there you have it, right?  All that I am summed up in one sentence and wrapped up in a tidy little package.  We do the same thing to nearly everything in our lives – including God, whatever God might be.  

But fuck, babe.  I am so damned much more than those titles and labels.  So is God.  And so are you.  You are an amazing, limitless spirit that just so happens to be wrapped up in a meat suit – but even that label is inaccurate because that meat is frickin’ energy, dancing, whirling and spiraling – and just waiting for us to direct our intentional creation to it.   Cool, right?  

As long as our physical form doesn’t become just another aspect of our ego identification, that is.  Body identification can be one of the greatest inhibitors to emotional freedom there is, especially in our current society.  The trick is to want to feel your best because you love yourself, and want your external self to be a reflection of the amazing creation you are inside.   Versus having a need to look your best because it’s what society expects or where your self-worth comes from.

But I digress, a little.  The second reason it is so difficult to let go of our attachments is biology.  The longer we hold something as a part of who we are, the more those attachments become neurological patterns – starting as connections in the brain, moving to pathways and eventually, if we stay in those identities too long, those neural pathways become trenches that require Herculean effort to alter.  It’s not impossible but it is damned hard and requires nearly-constant awareness and re-programming work for a while to overcome. 

Let me give you another example – A while back, I met with my friend Michelle who is currently going through a separation from her husband.  The relationship was founded in some mutually unhealthy patterns but she was eventually able to see that those patterns weren’t serving who she was becoming and she didn’t want to remain in that stuck place any more.  They tried to work things out but just had too many of their patterns wrapped up in cycles of victimhood and dysfunction.  

Suddenly on her own, Michelle found herself grieving far more than she felt she should have been, especially as she had known where the relationship was headed for several years.  Some days she felt so heavy that she could hardly function – but she noticed it was worse when she would be in the places they had been together.  As we spoke, I pointed out that it made perfect sense – her sense of identity and value had been wrapped up in who she was in the relationship for a long time.  

She was a wife.  A partner.  A playmate.  A best friend, chef, housekeeper and a million other titles that seemed exclusive to that relationship.  How many of us can relate?  So Michelle wasn’t just grieving the end of the marriage but also who she had been in that marriage. 

Divorce isn’t just the end of a relationship.  It is too often the death of an identity.  After 15 years her neurological pathways relating to her relationship were trenches that she had to dig herself out of – an emotionally and physically painful process. 

But here’s what was awesome – having the “aha” moment of why she was having such a hard time – that she had her identity wrapped up in who she was as a wife rather than an individual and spiritual being – helped her to climb out of the depression she was experiencing.  She will still have work to do and daily affirmations to reprogram those patterns but she’s on her way to freedom, joy, and self-creation. 

Can you relate to your identity being wrapped up in something so deeply that to be without it feels devastating?  If so, loved one, now is the time to give yourself lots of grace.  Lots of love. And get to work!

–    Write down daily affirmations on your own worth – just as you are.

–    Take time to meditate.  

–    Give yourself plenty of self-care.

–    Visualize the future you wish to see – and the you

 that you want to be, ideally before bed or upon waking when your brain is in an alpha or theta state – the best time to reprogram old patterns.  

Happy healing, beloved. I can’t wait to see how joyous freedom feels on you!

Much Love

– Terah

Flip Your Happy Switch! (The learned practice of being grateful)

by Terah Drake, posted in gratitude, self development, self-growth, confidence, self worth

Life is a beautiful gift, isn’t it?  While on a walk recently I stopped to appreciate the perfection of these thistles and the way the sunlight hit them jussst right.  Wow.🤩

We all have these moments of appreciation, but did you know that gratitude is a learned behavior? 

We tend to think of it as something that comes naturally, but in actuality it is something we have to practice, and the more we practice the more naturally it happens.  

The opposite is true, too.  It can be only too easy to dwell in a negative state and entirely forget how blessed we are.  

We might even say that we have to unlearn a lack of gratitude as well as developing a practice of appreciation to achieve lasting joy.

 We live in a world where we tend to focus on the negative rather than the positive, and so forget to be aware of the abundant reality that most of us live in.  Politics, the media, and the issues pertaining to this global pandemic – along with a host of other subjects – can cause anyone to head into a tailspin of negative emotion.

I’ve written before that I have a daily gratitude practice that improves my level of happiness dramatically,  but I still found myself in this downward cycle last night. 

After a very enjoyable evening with friends I stopped to pick up some groceries.  As often happens, I ended up spending wayyy more time than I had intended in the store and as a result was home putting away groceries at nearly 10pm, tired and more than a little grumpy as a result.  

“This sucks.  Why am I frickin’ putting away groceries at 10 pm when I should be getting ready for bed?”  I still have to do those dishes from earlier.  The dog is whining. (Because I was being stupid noisy in the kitchen and she was trying to sleep…😒) Well f#ck, I just broke the coffee pot.”… (because I wasn’t being aware)

And before you know it, I’m thinking about all the other negative events from the day, the fact that my back is a little tender right now as a result of days of moving furniture and projects around the house and a host of other negatives just because. 😑

But this morning, as I prepared a gf bagel with the lox, herbed goat cheese, capers and avocado I had picked up while shopping last night for breakfast, I reminded myself that my negative state of the night before was a CHOICE that I made.  

I could have been feeling excited and grateful for the gorgeous lox I found on sale, the herbed goat cheese spread that I hadn’t seen before, along with a variety of other items many would consider “luxury foods” but I am blessed to enjoy daily.  

I could have been grateful for the fact that I have money in the bank to buy those groceries in the first place.  

I could have been thinking about the lovely time I had with friends earlier, the myriad projects I have completed recently, the sun and blue skies that broke from days of clouds and rain here in the Pacific NW – or a thousand other wonderful things that I experience on the daily.

But instead I chose to slide from being unhappy about putting away groceries at 10pm to an all-out pity party negative state.  

How many out there can relate? How often do we start our day in a wonderful mood but after reading the news or discussing politics at the water cooler find ourselves wishing for a nightcap – at lunchtime – to dampen the killer tension headache we have suddenly developed? Or we have an evening run-in with an obnoxious driver and find ourselves in a state of rage hours later, unable to sleep well as a result of the cortisol and adrenaline still in our system?

(The mind talks to the body every second, sending chemical messengers into the bloodstream in response to our thoughts and emotions.  The way you feel physically is often a reflection of our subconscious thought patterns.)

Well, I don’t know about you, but I sure do like feeling happy, excited and ready to take on the world a whole lot more than being grumpy, anxious and fearful, wanting to crawl into my safe little hole instead of finding fun adventure and good friends.  

And I 💯 know that the best way – maybe the only way – to get back to my best self is to change my mind state and vibrational frequencies.  

I used to tell my kids to “flip their happy switch” when they were in a negative mood.  Taking my own advice, this morning I made the choice to flip my happy switch.  I had a fabulous walk with my pups, enjoyed my perfect cup of French press coffee (since I broke my other pot, LOL) and especially savored the preparation and consumption of that breakfast.  

As I sit writing this, I am gratefully aware of the gentle breeze stirring the curtains, the soothing, happy blues, purples and yellows of my home, the green plants on my window and my big comfy couch.  And my big cup of coffee, obvs.😉

It’s a good day to feel grateful. 

It’s a good day to be happy.  

It’s a good day to have a really, really good day.  Don’t you agree?🥰

What are some things that you are especially thankful for right now? How do you best “Flip your Happy Switch”?  

(This just might be the name of my next book, btw… another thing to be grateful for!🤩😁😁)

Precious Human Life

by Terah Drake, posted in Uncategorized

Has anyone else noticed that over the last year, we have been 💯 inundated with messages of fear? Politics.  Pandemics.  Mass shootings. (Oh my!) 

Hostility among social groups, friends, and even our loved ones is rampant as many hold differing views on nearly every subject that anyone is talking about right now.  Even some celebrities are jumping on the bandwagon of spreading hate and malcontent. 

 I recently came across Jim Carey’s awful “political art” letter to Melania Trump, calling her the “Worst First Lady”.  Seeing it made me feel sick to my stomach.  

I didn’t particularly like Melania Trump, and I really didn’t like her husband – but who knows why she made the decisions she did?  I can only imagine how hard it would be to be married to DT, Amiright?   But I guess the main question is, who are we to judge so harshly?  How would any of us feel if that kind of vitriol was directed at us?

But there are plenty of other subjects to keep us in a state of angst.

Presidents.  Vaccinations.  Border control. Masks.   

Stay at home.  Get outside.  

Open businesses fully.  Close businesses fully.  

Get rid of guns.  More guns, greater control. 

Black Lives Matter.  All lives matter. 

All Cops Are Bastards.  Law enforcement saves lives.  

De-fund police.  More funding for police to provide better training.  

Avoid social interaction.  We need greater social interaction for emotional and physical wellness.

Peaceful protests.  Out of control riots.

Democrat.  Republican.  Conservative.  Liberal.  Boomer.  Gen Z.   Millennial.  

Save the environment.  F#ck the environment.  

Save the trees.  Raze forests to buy more sh#t from Amazon.  

The list goes on, but you get the point.  Nearly everyone I speak to believes we are in crisis.  Most believe this is a tipping point and many think the world is heading to hell in a handbag.  

I’ve spoken to many Christians who believe we are in the “End Times” as foretold by Revelations.  Shoot, I’ve spoken to agnostics and atheists who think we are in the end times.  Well, maybe we are, maybe we aren’t.  Doesn’t the bible also say “But of that day and hour no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”? (Matthew 24:36)  

So why assume or speculate?  Because some part of us loves the fear.  Loves the drama.  Loves the angst.  Or, if we don’t love it, at least we accept it as “the way it is”.   We become accustomed to this “new way of being” and those new neurological patterns become habits.  

But habits that include daily fear, anxiety, anger, or depression can not lead to an improvement in our circumstances.  In fact, living in the toxic environment of chronic stress impacts our physical and emotional well-being, compromises our immune system, depresses neurological function, and, from the level of frequency, our ability to create a good life.  

This isn’t just woo-woo or psychobabble.  Wondering about the science of that statement?  Let’s break it down.  

One of the major responses to various stressful conditions is the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis  

This is a cycle that begins with the Hypothalamus, (part of the brain responsible for stress control) where it sends signals to the Pituitary Gland (Conduit for chemical messengers that send information to cells throughout the body) that there is environmental stress.  The pituitary gland sends these messengers to the Adrenal Gland, which starts pumping out stress hormones such as Adrenaline and Cortisol.  

This relay of information is based on the bodies’ primitive flight or fight response.  Whether the threat/stress is a saber-toothed lion, a cruel comment on social media, the news’ constant fear-mongering, or an argument about whether Trump or Biden will go down in history as the best – or the worst – president in history, the physiologic response is the same.  

But let’s get back to how the HPA axis affects our body.  As Adrenaline and Cortisol are pumped into the bloodstream, blood flow is re-directed from our gut and vital organs to our external limbs (fight or flight, right?  Fists or feet)  

Now, we generally know that the fight or flight response is a vital and necessary aspect of the survival of the human species.  But thousands of years ago, it might be necessary to fight or run from a threat every once in a while.  But we are living in a time when stress is constant and chronic, which means we are activating the HPA Axis on the daily.  Not good. 

Over time, the nourishment of our vital organs, immune system, and brain become inhibited.  Really, really not good.  

Add to this the fact that many of us have been isolated from our friends and loved ones (seniors and children/teens being the hardest affected by this) which also activates the HPA Axis. 

(Studies have shown that in the absence of affection/love, vital statistics decrease by an average of 30%😳😳) 

Is it any wonder that so many become sick, depressed, or angry?

When we become habituated in an emotional response, that response is programmed into our subconscious as a behavior, and that behavior becomes our personality, for better or for worse.  So occasional frustration becomes habitual anger which becomes an angry, abusive person.  

Yuck, right?  

But when we habituate gratitude and joy, the same happens.  Moments of gratitude turn to contentment, which becomes a happy, healthy human. 

 And who doesn’t want to be a happy, healthy human?

If we become aware of our emotional state – and the huge impact it has on our physical health, the vast majority of us would choose joy over frustration and anger.  

Vibrant health over Dis-ease. 

Love over hate.  

Peace over war and bitterness.  

Creation over destruction.  

So here is an alternative to creating a happier reality:  The next time you find yourself reacting to the media, or social media, or someone’s differing political or other views, just stop for a moment.  Take a big breath and step back from that knee-jerk reaction. Remind yourself of the harm you are doing to yourself and others.

 Remind yourself that you ”have a precious human life and will not waste it.”

Then step back into the conversation with kindness. Agree to disagree.  Value others for their uniqueness and differences.   

Curate the news you expose yourself to or shut it off completely. 

Avoid toxic people or those that try to engage you in argument, even if those people are close to you.  You can love someone from a distance while choosing to create better for yourself.  

Seek social media presences and outlets that lift others rather than tear them down.   

Find healthy habits to substitute those that perpetuate toxic cycles.  Re-programming means overlaying old neurological programs.  

Feed yourself nourishing foods rather than junk.  Eat some good, dark chocolate.  

Cut back on the caffeine.  

Take Epsom salts baths.

Get outside and get some exercise, not only reaping the stress-busting perks of good physical fitness but also the myriad benefits of being in nature.  (See past blog on Shinrin-Yoku/Forest Bathing) 

But most of all, choose to celebrate this life rather than criticize and worry about things out of our control.  Look for the good rather than the ugly.  See the flowers over the weeds.  Or pull the weeds and plant some flowers! 

This is your garden, beloved. Do you want paradise or purgatory? Your choice. 💖

Much love;

– Terah