Welcome to Pause & Affirm! This quick, upbeat hit of inspiration is meant to remind you of your greatness, inner light, and peace! This quick hit of inspiration is meant to remind you of your greatness, inner light, and peace!

TAKE A MOMENT TO RELAX AND ALLOW THESE WORDS TO SETTLE IN YOUR MIND, HEART, AND SOUL.

Today’s mindset reset comes from Sarah in Michigan. She wrote, “I used to think I had healthy self-esteem, but recently I’ve been questioning myself. I do not feel confident I can do what I want and need. I am constantly comparing myself to others, especially friends in my group. I’m triggered by small mistakes. I feel like I’m failing in every area of my life. When I said this to my mother, she said, ‘Your self-esteem is shot.’ Then, she told me all the ways I needed to stop being hard on myself, which did not help. How do I know if low self-esteem is my problem, and how can I turn it around?

You have an inner knowing and intelligence, and if you are not using it, you may be working against yourself. Today, you and I are taking a one-on-one deep dive into how to trust your gut and tune in.

It takes inner listening, trust, and faith in your internal guidance system. When we talk about trusting ourselves, the idea of gut feelings and intention often follows.

We’re breaking it all down so we know when to listen, and most importantly, I’m giving you a few tools to use that answer how to listen.

Welcome to Pause & Affirm! This quick, upbeat hit of inspiration is meant to remind you of your greatness, inner light, and peace! This quick hit of inspiration is meant to remind you of your greatness, inner light, and peace!

TAKE A MOMENT TO RELAX AND ALLOW THESE WORDS TO SETTLE IN YOUR MIND, HEART, AND SOUL.

Find a comfortable position and take a deep breath. Allow these self-love, self-truth affirmations to soothe your soul and help you connect with the most important person in your world—you.

What is the purpose of life? Big question. Some believe it’s to live humbly, have a few experiences, and do their best. For others, they think they’re here to leave a massive mark on the world. They believe purpose is found in the doing. While others believe the purpose of life is to be enlightened. Spiritual enlightenment is a state of awareness of the world and the true nature of oneself and the universe around them. It’s a conscious act of releasing pain, suffering, fear, and the ego. We find alignment, self-realization, and the real self in this ever-changing process.

But the question is how? How does one do this, especially if life has been fraught with hardships?

I sat down with Michele Blood, a singer from Australia with an international following, as she recounts moments after a car accident that changed her path and how her voice has helped thousands transform their lives through affirmation and find their way into the purpose of life—true enlightenment. Michele’s story reminds us that each of us has a purpose; our voice creates powerful movements in our lives, and we have an inner knowledge we have the power to tune into.

Welcome to Pause & Affirm! This quick, upbeat hit of inspiration is meant to remind you of your greatness, inner light, and peace! This quick hit of inspiration is meant to remind you of your greatness, inner light, and peace!

TAKE A MOMENT TO RELAX AND ALLOW THESE WORDS TO SETTLE IN YOUR MIND, HEART, AND SOUL.

Habits are important. They are important as they really do serve us in the long run. A habit is an action we've practiced into a routine, and it's important to know that your mind works in patterns. When we practice something enough times, our mind locks it into place. Your thoughts become beliefs. Your beliefs become actions. Your actions become habits, and that's all well and good until it doesn't work for you.

Emotionally sound people are deliberate about how they appear in the world. They understand their belief system and their core values. Understanding your value and belief system is so essential that you cannot become emotionally resilient without it. That’s why you and I are taking a one-on-one deep dive into understanding your emotions and values. Then, I’m handing over the inner conversation people with emotional resiliency tell themselves in moments of hardship. This internal dialogue is so important that it can change how you look at life. Let’s not waste another moment and dive right in.

Welcome to Pause & Affirm! This quick, upbeat hit of inspiration is meant to remind you of your greatness, inner light, and peace! This quick hit of inspiration is meant to remind you of your greatness, inner light, and peace!

TAKE A MOMENT TO RELAX AND ALLOW THESE WORDS TO SETTLE IN YOUR MIND, HEART, AND SOUL.

Welcome to this seated mindfulness meditation. This practice guides you into a deeper state of relaxation in your mind and body while allowing your mind to slow down and create a sense of calm by reducing that inner chatter.

Trauma, dysregulated emotions, high levels of stress and anxiety, all have a way of rewiring and changing your nervous system. The changes are so significant they can cause disease as you witness and carry your dis-ease; they cause coping mechanisms and self-harm, and a host of other significant life impacts. Yet, there is a way to retrain the autonomic nervous system and your relationship to your experiences.

I sat down with trauma and addiction therapist, Polyvagal Institute Course Developer, teacher, and author Jan Winhall to talk about how to shift out of flight/fight/fold and freeze, and how we can connect with ourselves and change and get out of the impending danger we feel that keeps us from relaxing and enjoying our lives.

Welcome to Pause & Affirm! This quick, upbeat hit of inspiration is meant to remind you of your greatness, inner light, and peace! This quick hit of inspiration is meant to remind you of your greatness, inner light, and peace!

TAKE A MOMENT TO RELAX AND ALLOW THESE WORDS TO SETTLE IN YOUR MIND, HEART, AND SOUL.

Sadly, we now live in a world where being offended by even the littlest thing is a standard. Yet, by not getting offended so quickly, you minimize your stress levels and open yourself up to new ideas, thought processes, emotions, and experiences.

Bella Jean from Portland, Oregon, wrote in and said: “Danielle, I have been working on growing and becoming a better person over the last year, but there’s something that I can’t quite grow out of yet. That’s not taking offense when someone questions my thoughts or feelings or when my family tells me I’m wrong because they haven’t done all the work on themselves that I have done. It’s tiring, and I want to let things slide off my shoulders, but I don’t know how. Can you help?”

When was the last time you listened to your inner conversation? Is it serving you, or does it take you down? Most women struggle with their inner critic and tend to beat themselves up. Is this you? If so, there’s one essential life practice that can silence the inner critic, help you release the need to trash yourself and your worth, and is the ultimate foundation of self-love.

What is it? It’s self-empathy.

While you may be familiar with having empathy for others, turning this practice inward changes the inner conversation and opens the door to cultivating inner peace, happiness, and gives you the courage to be the woman who loves themselves fiercely.

Welcome to Pause & Affirm! This quick, upbeat hit of inspiration is meant to remind you of your greatness, inner light, and peace! This quick hit of inspiration is meant to remind you of your greatness, inner light, and peace!

TAKE A MOMENT TO RELAX AND ALLOW THESE WORDS TO SETTLE IN YOUR MIND, HEART, AND SOUL.

Find a comfortable position and take a deep breath. Now, close your eyes and allow your thoughts to soften. Bring your mind to a state of stillness and focus on two beautiful words. Those words are peace and Shanti. Shanti is a Sanskrit term that can be loosely translated as “peace be with you.” It’s a reminder that peace is always within your grasp.

Because being at peace is a choice. A daily choice that reminds us that we are on a journey—a journey of learning, of lessons and redirection, a journey of creating balance and deep inner understanding, and a journey that has always been meant to guide us to the humble state in which we arrived, in peace and embodying Shanti.

What does the term “coping mechanisms” mean to you? The term has taken on an understanding that doesn’t fully explain a coping mechanism or how it can take you into dark places in your life. After all, they are more than just the things you do because at the base of every coping mechanism is a hope that you have a sense of safety and control, even if it isn’t a true security blanket.

When we use our coping mechanisms against ourselves, we create less than fulfilling lives. This is especially true if your coping mechanism is something that requires work. An example of that work is emotional eating.

While many of us do not look at our eating habits and relationship with food as disordered, it can be without even realizing it. Any disordered habits create disordered thinking, which upsets our emotional balance. That’s why I sat down with the founder and leader of Escape From Emotional Eating Jessica Procini to talk about the root of this coping mechanism and how to tackle it if this is a struggle for you. Jessica even hands over a priceless tool you can use right now!

Welcome to Pause & Affirm! This quick, upbeat hit of inspiration is meant to remind you of your greatness, inner light, and peace! This quick hit of inspiration is meant to remind you of your greatness, inner light, and peace!

TAKE A MOMENT TO RELAX AND ALLOW THESE WORDS TO SETTLE IN YOUR MIND, HEART, AND SOUL.

Let’s face it; relationships can be hard. This is especially true when we are talking about long-term, romantic relationships. When we know our partners intimately, we often tend to forecast or assume we know what they are thinking, how they will respond, what they need, want, like, you get it, all the things. Yet, that assumption or lack of discovery questions is where we first trip up and cause our own problems.

Davida from Puerto Rico wrote, “Danielle, I’ve been married for twenty-one years. We love and respect one another. However, I’ve noticed in the last two years that our communication has changed. We both have grown so much individually and within our marriage. We both consider our marriage to be solid, but we’ve begun to notice minor disagreements on things like doing the dishes or what time our oldest child has to be home are turning into bigger issues than they should be. Is there something we can do to help guide one another through these moments? I find myself mad at him and want him to respond differently. He becomes mad at me. Sometimes we talk it out. Sometimes it sits and waits for a few days. It’s not a healthy cycle. What do you suggest?”