Insights Archives - Dono Bella | Reiki and Coaching for Women Seeking Clarity and Balance

Reiki Stones in New Jersey, How Crystals Can Support Grounding, Clarity, and Energy Alignment

Damon Dietz — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 20:19:19 +0000

Reiki Stones in New Jersey, A Beautiful Path Into Chakra Healing and Energy Healing

Some gifts do more than surprise us. They open a door.

Nicole recently gave me a beautiful gift, a pill box filled with seven stones, one for each chakra. It was thoughtful, meaningful, and grounding in a way that stayed with me. That gift sparked a deeper interest in Reiki stones, chakra healing, and the quiet but powerful role stones can play in spiritual and emotional support.

Not long after, I visited the American Museum of Natural History and spent time walking through the gems and minerals exhibit. It was incredible. There is something almost impossible to explain about standing in front of ancient stones, rich colors, and natural formations that have existed far longer than we have. The beauty, energy, and presence of them felt both calming and awakening.

There is something almost impossible to explain about standing in front of ancient stones, rich colors, and natural formations that have existed far longer than we have.

That experience made something click for me. Stones are not just beautiful. They can become reminders. Anchors. Intentional tools that help us slow down, reconnect, and come back to ourselves.

I also realized, long before I knew it, that my favorite stone is orange citrine.

There is something about its warmth that feels alive. Bright, grounded, and gently energizing. I have found myself using orange citrine when stretching or doing yoga, and it adds something subtle but meaningful to the experience. It helps me feel more connected to my body, more open, and more present.

And now, that growing interest is leading me into another new experience. I am excited to attend my first gem and mineral show at the Raritan Expo Center, May 6 through May 10, 2026. There is something special about getting to explore stones in person, to see the colors, textures, and energy up close, and to keep learning through that experience.

Why Stones Speak to So Many of Us

Many people are drawn to stones long before they know why. Sometimes it starts with color. Sometimes with texture. Sometimes with a feeling you cannot quite explain.

For those who are already exploring energy healing, Reiki, or emotional grounding, stones can feel like a natural extension of that path. They invite intention. They slow us down. They remind us that healing does not always need to be loud to be powerful.

In Reiki, the focus is not on the stone doing the healing for you. Rather, the stone can become a supportive part of your environment, your ritual, or your awareness. It can help create a feeling of presence and alignment while you do the deeper inner work.

That is part of what makes them so meaningful.

The Beauty of Chakra Stones

The seven stone gift Nicole gave me was especially powerful because each stone represented a chakra. It was more than a beautiful object. It felt symbolic. Of course I would expect Nicole to make me such a gift.

Each chakra reflects a different area of our emotional, physical, and energetic experience.

Root, safety and grounding.
Sacral, creativity and emotion.
Solar plexus, confidence and identity.
Heart, love and compassion.
Throat, truth and expression.
Third eye, intuition and insight.
Crown, spiritual connection.

Seeing all seven stones together felt like a reminder that healing is layered. We are not just working on one part of ourselves. We are learning how to support the whole self.

That idea fits so naturally within the Dono Bella space. Healing is not about becoming someone else. It is about returning to yourself with more clarity, softness, and alignment.

"Glance at the sun. See the moon and the stars. Gaze at the beauty of the earth’s greenings. Now, think."

Hildegard of Bingen

Why Orange Citrine Stands Out

Orange citrine feels like sunlight in stone form.

It carries warmth, joy, movement, and personal energy. For me, it feels connected to motivation, openness, and a sense of gentle empowerment. When I use it during yoga or stretching, it becomes a small part of the ritual. Not because I expect magic from the stone itself, but because it helps me step into intention.

That is what makes a ritual powerful.

The music. The breath. The movement. The object you choose to hold nearby. These things can signal to the nervous system that it is safe to soften, safe to listen, and safe to reconnect.

Orange citrine reminds me of energy without pressure. Light without force. It feels uplifting in a grounded way.

Reiki, Stones, and Everyday Ritual

You do not need an elaborate practice to benefit from stones.

You can place one near your yoga mat. Hold one during meditation. Keep one on your nightstand. Carry one in your pocket as a reminder of how you want to feel.

The power is often in the pause.

For women navigating burnout, emotional heaviness, transition, or inner confusion, small rituals matter. They help bring us back into the body. Back into the breath. Back into the truth of what we are feeling.

That is where Reiki can be so supportive. Reiki offers a gentle space for the nervous system to settle and for deeper emotional clarity to emerge. Stones can complement that experience by giving you a physical touchpoint for intention and reflection.

A Personal Invitation to Notice What Draws You In

Sometimes the things we are drawn to are not random. A color. A stone. A symbol. A feeling. Sometimes they are invitations.

Nicole’s gift helped open that doorway for me. The museum deepened it. Orange citrine made it personal.

Maybe for you, there is a stone that keeps catching your eye. Sometimes healing begins with simply noticing what brings you back to yourself.

If you are exploring Reiki, emotional healing, or ways to feel more grounded in your daily life, stones may become one more beautiful support on your path.

When energy realigns, direction becomes clear.

See also:

Guided Meditation for Letting Go and New Beginnings: New Year Sacred Shift

The post Reiki Stones in New Jersey, How Crystals Can Support Grounding, Clarity, and Energy Alignment appeared first on Dono Bella | Reiki and Coaching for Women Seeking Clarity and Balance.

Overextended: The Hidden Weight of Expectation

Nicole Ribet — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 01:10:12 +0000

Recognizing the Weight

This past week, when my beautiful and brilliant coach innocently asked “How are you?” I immediately barked, “Overextended.”. It was the word that has been pounding in my mind and chest for weeks, building pressure with no outlet until she, specifically, asked. This is one of the incredible gifts of the work that we do, to create this space. It’s a heartwarming honor to be the outlet for honesty and untethered support for someone. It’s something we rarely have the awareness or courage to ask for and, even when we do, are not always able to receive.

For months, my sessions with her have been a godsend for maneuvering and managing a business with so many other obligations. We talk about strategy and next steps. This Monday night, however, I simply melted. She heard the sadness, the anger, the humor, and the chaos of my previous few weeks. In the end, we did not plan my next step forward. We planned my pause. Every Friday morning in my calendar, where I would typically try to schedule a client or volunteer a Reiki session, there is now an hour and a half slot entitled “Do me”. As soon as my boys are on the bus, before I schedule any appointments or login to my full-time job, I am to do absolutely nothing but exactly what I want. Amazing, right?! It’s okay if you feel some kind of way about this right now. So did I. How dare I be so bold as to take this time? How spoiled? How selfish? I asked myself all of these questions, which is precisely why I needed to do it.

It is not the rules or expectations that are put upon us that feel so heavy. It is the ones that we put upon ourselves.

The Spiral Before the Stillness

On my first Friday morning, as soon as the boys got on the bus, I started to spiral. I wanted to read, write, take a bath, fold the laundry, wash the sheets, clean the bathrooms, organize the growing piles of paperwork, complete any one of my countless unfinished chapters or blog posts, pay my bills and create a budget, call every one of my girlfriends and give them my full, undivided and uninterrupted attention, go for a run, get a manicure and pedicure, take a yoga class, and meditate. The decision of how to spend the next 90-120 minutes of my morning began to blend into the mounting pressure that I had been feeling leading up to this idea. Then I remembered something that we talked about during our conversation. It was my own words from one of our first sessions that my coach repeated back to me. “You could just lay on the floor if you want”. So that is exactly what I did.

For 15 minutes, from my bedroom floor, surrounded by the book, dirty towels, pair of glasses, and coffee mug that I had been carrying, I participated in a fruitless staring contest with my ceiling. As I lay there, the past few weeks of parenting, performing, partnering, purpose and professional work replayed in my mind. As the memories rolled on, I applied my own RAW knowing. I followed my own advice and released judgment, reviewing things that I had said, had been said to me, mistakes made, small triumphs, moments of help and hurt. I physically felt the experiences within me, allowing my emotions and subtle body to relive and release. I let the waves come without trying to fight or figure out anything.

And the result was my greatest memory, not of circumstance but of certainty.

The Expectations That Exhaust Us

It is not the rules or expectations that are put upon us that feel so heavy. It is the ones that we put upon ourselves. It is not our employer’s deadline or agenda, a conflict with a friend, parent or partner, our children’s need for attention, a missed fight or opportunity, or the traffic on our way to work that weighs on us. The weight is the misunderstanding that it is our job to immediately meet or mediate any demand or desire. It’s the fear that if we are late, if we are wrong, or even confidently right, if our body doesn’t look or function in a way that we would like, if we miss a deadline or detail, if we are misunderstood or unapologetically ourselves, something will fall apart. We will have done something wrong. We will somehow be unworthy. And this fear of not enoughness is where our shame, our blame, and our spiral takes root.

The truth though, dearest soul, is that the expectation of overproductiveness is counterproductive. It’s paralyzing. And the only person who decides if you are lovable, if you are worthy, or the value that you add to this world is you. You are the keeper of your expectations; the keeper of recorded desires and demands. You are the only one who can steady yourself or fall. You may not be the only voice to have shaped your perception of your worth, but you are the one who gets to decide which voices you continue to carry.

Remembering Your Worth In Ordinary Moments

There’s a current TikTok trend going around trying to prove that AI has ego by asking if humans are better than it. Hundreds of videos of people asking artificial intelligence questions about being human vs being artificial intelligence, and asking with an air of superiority which is better. Here’s the real question though. Why do we need to ask? Artificial intelligence does not have ego. It doesn’t even have an existence without us. It doesn’t have a concept of better or worse. We do. We apply this concept to every sensory experience that we have. What we eat, what we see, what we read, what we smell, what we hear. Something is either good or bad. It’s better or it’s worse. Perhaps the most unfortunate implementation of these concepts is when we apply it to ourselves.

My fragile human ego would love to believe that a single invitation from me to see yourself as the incredible miracle that you are would be enough for you to recognize the truth in that statement. But we are not all ready to see ourselves as miraculous. We are not all ready to see ourselves as fundamentally worthy just for existing. We do it when we’re ready.

So instead of an invitation to remember this yourself, I offer you a reminder to return to when you need it. You are whole exactly as you are. In traffic, in the waiting room at the doctors office, applying for unemployment, in the checkout line when your card is declined, when you have over or undershared, celebrating a hard earned promotion or laying on your bedroom floor… You are valuable and you are worthy, just as you are. There is nowhere, and certainly no one, else that you need to be.

See also:

Guided Meditation for Letting Go and New Beginnings: New Year Sacred Shift

References

The post Overextended: The Hidden Weight of Expectation appeared first on Dono Bella | Reiki and Coaching for Women Seeking Clarity and Balance.

Tend Your Garden: The Science and Soul of Taking Up Space

Nicole Ribet — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 04:44:55 +0000

The Ritual That Starts the Day

According to the National Coffee Association, the average American coffee drinker consumes about three cups of coffee each day. Although I was not consulted for this research, I am most definitely an example of the statistic. For better or worse, in richer and poorer, sickness and health, coffee and I have been in it together for decades. It brews every morning as I exercise and the first cup is poured before the sun rises or the sweat of my efforts dries. For me that initial creamy sip is motivation, decadence, comfort, and sweetness at once. It symbolically starts my day.

Recently, my partner and I rearranged my cabinets to make this first cup sweeter. For the past decade it took an unnecessary amount of effort to pour it. The coffee, pot, mugs, and sweetener were in the pantry where I had to plug and unplug the maker every morning. The water and creamer in the kitchen, a separate room entirely. For years I’ve thought about reorganizing, but never put in the effort. I am the sole coffee drinker and barista, so simplifying the process benefited no one but me, who is rarely, if ever, my priority.

Taking up space in your own life, physically or energetically, is not indulgent. It's regulating.

When Function Replaces Presence

In our house I am a working mom, practitioner, dishwasher, cook, bookkeeper, healer, landscaper, plumber, housekeeper, child psychologist, personal assistant… The list goes on. I’m the doer. This isn’t something that is done to me. I am an active participant. I am grateful and honored by my roles. However, at some point, I had allowed my existence in my home to become completely functional. My needs became secondary. Without realizing it, I had designed and organized my house, and much of my life, to reflect that status.

On a recent morning, post-reorganization, with all of the ingredients for my first sip of decadence within steps, I gratefully embraced the feeling of occupying not just operating in my home. It was such a small adjustment that made an immeasurable difference for me. I felt settled, seen, and recognized as a resident in my own life.

Taking Up Space Is Regulation

In yoga, when embodying a position that calls for lengthening and expansion, you will often hear a prompt to “take up space”. It’s a reminder to make room for yourself to grow, or even just exist. The space that we take up in our lives is a reflection of how we see ourselves. I had set myself up in my own home as a position, not a person. It’s a mistake that many caregivers make. Our needs and desires become lost and begin to reflect those of the people that we care for. We energetically shrink ourselves, moving further from our own authentic plans and purpose.

During a recent Reiki share, the facilitator introduced me to the phrase “tend your garden”. It was such a simple, yet powerful, reminder for me. Taking up space in your own life, physically or energetically, is not indulgent. It’s regulating. It’s tending to your garden. Your self-treatment and surroundings have a tangible, measurable influence on your energetic, emotional, and physical well-being. Sustainably caring for others requires that you include yourself in that circle of care, just as a well tended garden produces a healthier, more abundant harvest.

One Cup At A Time

So I invite you, dear friend, to take a look at your surroundings. Your home. Your relationships. Even in your own becoming. Be curious and find if there is anywhere in your life that you are making yourself small. Explore ways to tend your garden and give yourself room for growth. There is no need to rush, fight or force it. With grace and gratitude, simply find your flow. This is your life, your amazing adventure, remember to savor it, tend it, and take it one steady sip at a time.

See also:

Guided Meditation for Letting Go and New Beginnings: New Year Sacred Shift

References

The post Tend Your Garden: The Science and Soul of Taking Up Space appeared first on Dono Bella | Reiki and Coaching for Women Seeking Clarity and Balance.

Practice Makes Purpose: Gentle Meditation Tips

Nicole Ribet — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 11:11:58 +0000

"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."

Arthur Ashe

Practice Makes Purpose

At the close of nearly every meditation that I guide, at least one person claims to be “bad” at meditating. It’s a belief that amuses me. One that I once held myself. It is as universally common as it is deeply inaccurate.

Mediation can not be good or bad. It is not done correctly or incorrectly. There is only experience. If you sit in two or twenty minutes of silence (or movement) and experience even a flicker of connectedness, a brief moment of feeling grounded, or a quiet notice of your internal state you have crushed it. No practice is meant to lead to perfection, meditation least of all. The purpose is to make progress toward building a calmer, more steady, relationship with yourself.

As all practices and relationships do, mediation takes consistency and patience. It takes showing up with an open heart and mind. To help support you in those efforts, here are five gentle invitations:

Allow wandering. Drifting, losing focus, and veering off are not mistakes. This is how we learn to return. You can’t practice landing if you never explore where your attention goes.
Soften instead of resisting. Tension often comes from fighting what’s happening. When you soften around an experience rather than trying to stop it, the experience often shifts on its own.
Release the chase for results. Meditation isn’t about getting somewhere. The practice is the experience itself, meant to be lived rather than achieved.
Stay curious. Boredom, doubt, and restlessness are part of the process. Curiosity keeps you present; judgment pulls you out of the moment.
Return with kindness. Each time you notice you’ve drifted, gently come back. You are practicing compassion, not correction.

These principles don’t belong exclusively to meditation. They apply to writing, healing, parenting, movement, creativity, and personal growth. They can be used for any practice that unfolds over time. There is no perfection. We practice for progress and purpose, neither of which comes from force. They come from showing up, again and again, with a little more kindness and a little less demand.

Guided Meditation and Energy Healing

Sacred Offerings provide a gentle, held space for practice. With support and quiet guidance, you can reconnect with yourself, release the need to perform, and simply be present.

Join a Sacred Offering

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Returning Instead of Repairing: Choosing regulation over urgency in challenging moments

Nicole Ribet — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 11:11:55 +0000

Reading the Room

On a recent morning my 8-year old son was putting together a robotic model hand. He had come to a challenging part that required a good deal of fine motor skills and dexterity and he was getting frustrated. His facial and body language gave away his internal dialogue “Why isn’t this working?! It’s so unfair! I should be able to do this! Why can’t I do anything right?!” Finally, after bouncing and whining, he took a deep breath and asked me for help. After 10 minutes of trying myself, I began my own internal spiral “I should be able to do this. Why can’t anything be easy? I should be making breakfast. Why is there always so much pressure? Should I even be doing this for him or am I teaching the wrong lesson?”

I can’t imagine where my son gets it from.

With my thoughts headed down the rabbit hole, my 10 year old holding his breath in anticipation of an explosion, and my 8-year old’s toes hanging over the edge of a tantrum, grace and wisdom whispered in my ear. “Hey bud,” I said “This is really frustrating, but we can definitely do it. Let’s take a break to eat and get dressed and, as soon as that’s done, we’ll take another look.” For the sake of time, I’ll just say that worked and we moved on with the morning. For the parents reading, I am not Mom Tiger, he is not Daniel, and moving forward took a few more minutes of persuasion and patience. Nonetheless, we all regrouped over scrambled eggs. And when we returned to the task 30 minutes later, I realized that he had put the wrong part in one place. With fresh eyes and calm nervous systems, we completed the first finger of his new bionic hand. Success!

Growth, healing, and learning are not emergencies, even when our nervous system insists that they are.

A Small Moment, A Familiar Spiral

The internal response that my child and I had is not an isolated incident, but rather a systemic routine that we are working to improve in our household. It’s the same response that I see in people who are working to release unworthiness that has grown from trauma, who are managing grief, who are working to complete a project or a program, or settle into the culture of a new job. Regardless of the task at hand, the scarcity culture that we live in inspires a sustained state of “take your time and hurry up” should-ing all over ourselves. With all of our glacier posters and inspirational quotes, when in the trenches of striving, aspiring, or pursuing, the truth is dysregulation and defeat are tricky temptresses.

The Cost of Urgency and "Should"

Giving into the frustration of unmet expectation, though seemingly easier, is the equivalent of rewarding yourself with a bowl of ice cream for not eating a Hershey Kiss. Luckily, for us, growth, healing, and learning are not emergencies, even when our nervous system insists that they are. And thanks to LL Cool J, we know that dreams don’t have deadlines.

As humans, we are remarkably good at finding ways to reduce discomfort and increase efficiency. From bridge to backscratcher, we work hard to avoid dis-ease. And there is nothing inherently wrong with that. But when applied to energetic and emotional healing, growth, or learning, speed comes at a cost. When we shorten time or effort, we miss experiences. We don’t learn the lessons that enrich our lives. We don’t meet the people that change us forever. We build a weak foundation that we will inevitably need to return to repair.

"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response."

Viktor Frankl

Regulation Before Resolution

What happened for my son and me that morning happens everywhere; at kitchen tables, offices, in relationships, grief, and quiet moments we wonder why something that “should be” simple, feels so hard. The details change but the pattern is universal. Energy shifts before behavior ever does. Without consciousness, dysregulation can kick in and narrow our perception of available choices. What we experience as failure, overwhelm, and resistance is often simply our nervous system asking for regulation before moving forward.

This shift that took place was not compliance or competence, it was RAW inspired regulation. With the grace and support that only the Universe (and a lot of trial and error) can provide, I recognized the frustration that we were feeling, the shift in energy that had taken over our quiet home. By accepting that this moment was happening, these feelings were becoming behaviors without judgement or shame, I was able to work to find a solution. For us, that meant pausing, regrouping and returning calmer, clearer, and more capable of moving forward. So, dear friend, the next time that you feel stuck, overwhelmed, or on edge I invite you to pause. Consider what your energy needs, before asking more of yourself. Once you’ve recognized your shift, accept what is present, and work from there. Build a foundational trust with your nervous system that you can return to for comfort, not to repair.

See also:

Guided Meditation for Letting Go and New Beginnings: New Year Sacred Shift

References

The post Returning Instead of Repairing: Choosing regulation over urgency in challenging moments appeared first on Dono Bella | Reiki and Coaching for Women Seeking Clarity and Balance.

Possibility: Embracing New Beginnings and Rediscovering the Wonder in Every Moment

Nicole Ribet — Wed, 31 May 2023 13:57:00 +0000

In the west, and possibly across the globe, we have a deeply romantic relationship with “first” milestones. The first cry of a baby is the loud horn at the beginning of a race. The first word a child utters with understanding is the beginning of language. First steps are the start of our independent journey. Boundless learning begins on the first day of school. A first kiss simmers with anticipation of a relationship that may grow. A wedding, the first stride into a bond that will last forever. The first child, and the cycle continues. Moments like these remind us why embracing new beginnings feels so powerful, because each first opens a space where hope shines brighter than fear.

Not all of us will encounter this same stream of firsts. Each of our lives is a unique experience tailored to guide us on specific paths. And often, the watershed moments that follow our beginnings are not the happily ever after that we had expected. Still, even for those who have felt the greatest losses, even for the most cynical among us, deep inside lives a flicker of wonder and endearment toward first moments. And why? Because the beginning is full of possibility. The weight of the past is forgotten, even if just for one moment. The opening of what could come is too substantial to share space with fear. Curiosity and hope shine too brightly for us to acknowledge the shadow of doubt.

Even as life grows more complicated, there is always room for embracing new beginnings by meeting ourselves with curiosity instead of judgement.

Sadly, these moments can be fleeting. Doubt and fear are like weeds in our garden of life. They work below the surface and take for themselves the nutrients that our hope and curiosity use to grow. Lately I find myself often reminding people, directly or indirectly, to approach themselves with curiosity instead of judgement. Just a simple step from “Ugh! Why do I always do that?!” to “Huh? I wonder why I keep doing that?” Because, what if this moment, right now, was as full of possibility as your last first milestone? And what if who and where you are right now, with all your flaws and all of life’s challenges, is exactly who and where you are supposed to be to start an incredible adventure?

Transformation and growth are two of my favorite words. Like “first”, they are filled with possibility. I am a firm believer that we are all works in progress, and progress does not allow for expectations of perfection or long periods of stagnation. No one climbs off a couch and runs a half marathon with potato chip crumbs flying off of their greasy face and fingers. And no one completes a half marathon by lying on their couch, scoffing at or envying the runners. A work in progress takes work. Babies aren’t born walking. And no one would expect it of them.

For all of us, two things need to happen before taking your first step, whether it is figurative or physical. First you need to accept and love where you are. You are not a walker… not yet. You need to be comfortable starting with a crawl. Have fun with it! Discover a crumb or crack on the floor that the walkers can’t see. Cultivate gratitude for the parts of you that can’t yet walk. If you can’t do that, then you won’t have the strength for the second part. And the second part is to believe. Believe that you are capable. Every time you fall, take a moment to comfort yourself, and try again. Have fun with it! Find new ways to get back up and new sensations in each attempted footstep.

When we soften into the idea of embracing new beginnings, we remember that every moment carries the same potential as the milestones we celebrate.

Our watershed, milestone firsts do not have to be the only moments that we live for or that we celebrate. This very moment, this very breath, is full of wonder and worth celebration. What if you knew that you are perfect and deeply loved, just as you are? What if you were certain that the path ahead of you was paved with good fortune? What if there was no doubt that your strength and potential were endless? The spark that we feel with a first kiss isn’t just a physical, chemical reaction. In that moment, our entire being is filled with hope. It’s the hope that engulfs us when we hear a child’s first cry. It’s the hope that overwhelms us with all of our romanticized first moments. It’s the hope that we are truly in love with. I invite you to submerge yourself in that same hope each and every day; to not wait for the milestones. I invite you to live as if you know, even when you fall, that you are the very picture of strength and potential; that your life is filled with the hope of boundless possibility. Because, my dear friend, I promise you that it is.

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Magic and Miracles: Noticing Everyday Miracles and Remembering the Magic of Simply Being Here

Nicole Ribet — Sat, 28 Jan 2023 14:12:20 +0000

Magic and Miracles

While walking into school on a recent morning, my 5-year old called attention to his gloved hands. “Look,” he said as he opened them and closed them around each other “it’s magic!”. Without understanding exactly what we were pretending, I was luckily able to give him the appropriate, expected, astonished response. He was happy. My 7-year-old opened his eyes wide, giving us both a look of amused exasperation. “Ummm, that is not magic. It’s his hands moving.” We all laughed. Then I said to him “Actually, that totally is magic. Six years ago, he didn’t even exist. Eight years ago, you didn’t. Yet here we are, walking from our car into school, where your hands will move, your brains will learn, and your hearts will beat all day. It is one of those small reminders that noticing everyday miracles does not require anything extraordinary. That’s pretty magical if you ask me.”

My boys are used to me, so they half accepted my words as truth, and half went on with their Kindergarten and 2^nd grade lives. The conversation made me remember trying to take a photo of them and their contemporary cousins over the holiday. Seven kids, my oldest being the oldest, packed onto a couch on top of each other with their individual personalities front and center. None of them were very focused on the task at hand but would intermittently smile, looking in any direction they pleased. The youngest cousin was fully enamored with his left hand, having no use for any other object or event around him. Holy crow! He seemed to think This thing is totally attached to me! He obviously saw the magic, too.

A practice as simple as noticing everyday miracles can guide us back into ourselves in the most grounding way.

To many, it would seem like this sweet little boy was wrapped up in his own abstract world. Realistically, though, he was more in this physical world than anyone else in that room. It was him and his hand. Tangible and fascinating. It’s like that with children and babies. Watching the world unfold for them is a wonder. And it should be. Before each of us are born, our bodies, our senses, our perceptions, ideas, and understandings did not exist. There is nothing more present, more in the moment, more real or more miraculous than his, or your, or my left hand. And yet, as we grow, we forget to notice it entirely. I mean, really, without looking at it now could you describe your left hand in detail? Or your right? Or your nose for that matter? I mean, it’s right there on your face! We dismiss the magic of our very selves as we grow and learn of the world around us. Often, we allow that which surrounds us to become the center of our attention and dismiss the magic, the miracle, of just who we are here in this moment.

During a recent interview, Dr. Laurie Santos mentioned that she had once spoken with a psychologist who worked with a lot of financially wealthy people. He mentioned that many of the people that he worked with would admit that the first billion dollars that they made did not bring them the happiness that they had expected, but that they were certain that the second billion would. Seems crazy, right? I agree, it is crazy. And it also who many of us have become. Not a world full of billionaires, but a culture designed to desire the next “big” thing, the next exterior incentive. We ceaselessly look outside of ourselves for gratification, even for acceptance and understanding. It could be the next job, promotion, child, relationship, compliment, or like on social media. The next is what we desire and when we have it, it is the one after that. Our motives and self-worth become almost entirely externally focused. By consistently letting the exterior engulf our interior, we lose the ability to be genuinely happy. The miracles of self and simplicity are forgotten. And when we lose ourselves, the world loses out on what we have to offer. That’s a lot of losing in a “winning” culture.

So, what hippie girl, am I just supposed to spend 20-minutes each day tripping over the miracle of my nose? If you have the time… YES! But, let’s be honest, most of us don’t. We do though have eyes to see the sun greet us each morning. We have skin to feel the wind on our faces. We have lungs to breathe air and hearts to pump blood. We have tears that flow when we are overcome with emotion. We have feet to feel the earth and ears to hear the birds bring us music. Our lives are miraculous; each and every one. And it takes only one second to notice and appreciate that magic. It’s cliché and I say it often, by you sincerely are the only you that this world has. The only one. What could possibly be more magical and miraculous than that?! What reward could be greater than just being here on this earth?!

The youngest cousin, whom I mentioned earlier, struggles with an unimaginable diagnosis. In the short time that he has spent on this earth so far, his small body has faced and overcome challenges that most grown adults could not begin to comprehend, let alone contend. And yet there he was, safe and surrounded by love, enjoying the miracle and wonder of just being here on earth, in his beautiful body. He discovers, overcomes, and explores every day; sharing his joy with those closest to him. There is no reason, outside of our own making, that we need to miss the magic in our lives, especially when noticing everyday miracles can happen in a single breath. Nothing but our own minds to distance us from the miracle of just being here. So I invite you to take even one second of each day simply being, observing and appreciating all that you are and all that you have in this fascinating world. And remember, dear one and only you, that you truly are a miracle.

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Room for Growth: Making Space for New Beginnings: Letting Go, Setting Intentions, and Creating Room for Growth

Nicole Ribet — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 15:01:00 +0000

Letting Go, Setting Intentions, and Creating Room for Growth

About a month before birthdays or holidays, I have a tradition with my children of clearing out toys that they no longer play with to make room for any gifts that they may receive. Well… that’s not entirely true. The tradition is planning the purge with my children and not doing it at all. Then, when they are not home, I tear through the house alone like a rogue, dysfunctional Christmas elf clearing shelves and hiding games, trinkets, and toys in the basement, until finally donating them about 6-months later. Such is parenthood. While my follow through with their participation is lacking, they do understand, and witness, that space has been made for new things.

In the west, and much of the world, we are preparing for another new year; we are making space for new beginnings. Whether our traditions are large or small, celebratory or passive, inevitable memories of our past and plans for our future congregate in our thoughts. Some will create resolutions. Some will simply reflect. Whatever our custom, the marked passage of time does hold significance. The evidence of accomplishment. Another year with or without a loved one. The closing of a chapter or opening of a blank page. A new year is an opportunity for us to express gratitude for those things that we hold dear and release those things that we do not.

Around this time the media is often filled with tips and tricks to stick to plans for our future. Intentions, by any name, are a powerful tool for us to tell the Universe what we want and what we don’t. And when it comes to intention, karma runs the show. Not some sort of “what goes around comes around”/ “eye for an eye” nonsense, but true Newton’s 4^th Law, metaphysical physics. What we put out, we will get back. If we want growth and change, we must direct our minds and emotions to work with our behaviors, with the same fluency and fluidity that nature and nurture work to create all organic things. But, much like a room full of toys, if we don’t first purge what we don’t need, there won’t be any space for what we do.

Making Space for New Beginnings by Letting Go of What Holds Us Back

Karma is often misjudged as a harsh universal magistrate. That’s simply untrue. What is true, is that in order to sustainably attract what serves, we need to live a life that reflects it, internally and externally. If we don’t rid ourselves of the thoughts and behaviors that contradict the things that we want, we leave no space for them to grow. We’re just stockpiling on top of the old and never get to experience all that we’ve worked for. Our intention gets suffocated as any new growth would in a bed riddled with weeds. Think of it this way, all of the exercise, dermatology, and healthy eating in the world won’t do us any good if we are constantly calling ourselves unattractive. No amount of medicine or meditation can help us heal if we consistently retell ourselves that we are unwell.

The best way for us to cultivate abundance is by letting go. Letting go of our beliefs that there are limits to our potential or possibilities. When we seek growth, we must clear away that which keeps us small. If we seek strength, first abandon any belief that we are a victim. If we want joy, we forsake resentment. If we want freedom, we let go of anger. If we want to see the value in our lives, we have to detach from the feelings of worthlessness. The control, the longing and plotting, the “if only”s and “why me”s. All of this can and should be cleared. Use the space that you create for gratitude, for self-love and appreciation. Use the space for service to others, for forgiveness, for hope.

Like any collection, some things will remain on the shelf. There are griefs and joys simply too precious to clear. They remain to be honored and held from time to time. But the smaller things, which often take up the most space, should be let go. Released to create new space, new energy, and room for growth. So I invite you, during this marked passage of time, to clear the cluttered shelves of your mind. Pull the weeds before planting. Fill the space that you create with nothing more than your own unique, brilliant, powerful light. And let it shine so brightly that something beautiful can’t help but grow there.

Create Space for Your Own Growth

If you’re ready to release what no longer serves you and welcome in something brighter, support is here. Let’s start making space for new beginnings together.

Start Your New Beginning

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The Between Space: How to Slow Down and Find Presence in Everyday Life

Nicole Ribet — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 15:14:00 +0000

During a recent and rare synchrony of unseasonably warm weather and 30-minutes of free time, I was able to go for a long overdue run in one of my favorite places near my home. It had been a while since the last time I ran, and I’ve never been the world’s greatest athlete, so I slowed to walk a few times along the way. I caught my breath and witnessed the sights and sounds of nature, spending an extra minute in a particularly scenic spot to stretch a bit. Writing this, the beauty and balance of those peaceful moments sounds like perfection. However, I realized during this run that each time that I slowed, I wasn’t enjoying the opportunity. I was witnessing the beauty, yes, but not really experiencing it. As soon as I slowed, my mind immediately began planning when I would begin running again. And when I started running, my mind immediately began planning my next break. I was missing the peace and pleasure that comes with staying in the present moment, a reminder of how easily we lose finding presence in everyday life when our minds are always reaching for what’s next. Moreover, I realized that the run was an appropriate metaphor for how we experience, or rather often don’t experience, our own lives.

I was missing the peace and pleasure that comes with staying in the present moment, a reminder of how easily we lose finding presence in everyday life when our minds are always reaching for what’s next.

There’s a character in one of the television shows that my children watch named Dr. O. One of her many amusing quirks is that at the end of any act, large or small, she authoritatively calls out “What’s next?” Although not something I verbalize, this humorous catch phrase is an underlying subconscious mantra in my own life and one I recognize in others, and for good reason. The passage of human time is recognized by moments of beginning and end. We are biologically defined by it, cellular birth (beginning) and cellular death (end). Our social and cultural norms and rituals are set by calendars and clocks. We measure our personal experiences by the beginning and end of relationships; friendships, romances, marriages, children, and even by the time spent living or working in a specific place. The starts and stops of eras are memorable and we worship our watershed moments. We cling to them. It’s in our language; “Life isn’t measured by the breaths that you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.” I mean, that’s some moving stuff, right?

The Space Between Milestones, Where Presence Becomes Meaning

Here’s the thing though, life is literally measured by the breaths that we take. Literally. And the moments that take our breath away are amazing and worth recognition, but they are moments. They are few and far between. The between is when life is really happening. For some of us that blanket of between, with its routine, peace, and stability, is as suffocating as a blanket of overwhelm. Some, like me crave, plot for, and dream of the beginnings and the endings, the next memorable moment. Others search for it while scrolling through TikToks, Twitter, Facebook, and other apps. But truthfully it is in the between space of monotonous nothingness when everything happens. These are the moments of our friends’ laughter, our children’s imaginations, or our parents counsel. These are the hundreds of kisses between our first and last. These are the hours that we stay by the side of someone whom we love and learn something profound from someone whom we don’t. This is the time that we have, silently with ourselves, to be an active member of our own life. Our presence in these moments is what we will be remembered for, so we should redefine and revere them as the ones that are worth remembering.

Movies and television show only the outlines existence. The audience sees a few stimulating clips of activity, transitional moments, and everything is wrapped up in the end. Life isn’t like that though. The real substance of our stories can’t be found in an outline. The essence of who we are is how we handle the space between the bullet points. Before I knew it, my run was over. Time passes quickly and if we hyperfocus on beginning and end, birth and death, there is only one option ahead of us. We are essentially just wishing our lives away, or at least ignoring the moments that really make it truly ours.

Reframing Routine, Finding Presence in Everyday Life

Some synonyms for monotony are tedium, boredom, and repetitiveness. Others are equability, evenness, and oneness. If we are only able to notice the first list, we become witnesses to our own movie. But if we can stay present enough to embrace the second list, to relish in the monotony, we are no longer our own audience. We begin to fully experience our lives in every moment. The transitional, pivotal watershed moments will come. And they will be even more breathtaking when we’ve practiced presence in the between space. So please consider this your written invitation to play the starring role in your movie, to pause long enough to become comfortable in your own routine and turn your “What’s next?!” into “What’s now?!”

See also:

Reiki Stones in New Jersey, How Crystals Can Support Grounding, Clarity, and Energy Alignment

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The UrSkeks: Embracing Inner Light and Shadow, What The Dark Crystal Teaches Us About Unity

Nicole Ribet — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 13:27:00 +0000

Embracing Inner Light and Shadow Through the Wisdom of The Dark Crystal

It struck me recently how embracing inner light and shadow reflects the very heart of this story. In the 1982 fantasy film, The Dark Crystal, there are two races of species dominantly portrayed. There are the Skeksis; a hybrid reptile, vulture, and dragon, who are cruel and selfish. The aging and ailing breed anxiously survive by draining and consuming the life force of other living beings. The urRu, or Mystics, are the same size and age as the Skeksis, but look and live quite differently than Skeksis do. They resemble an amalgam of dog and dinosaur, and they are gentle, generous, and thoughtful. They harm no one and nothing, concerned more with the daily tasks of living than the worry of dying. The Mystics value peace, while the Skeksis crave power.

The Symbolism of The Dark Crystal

The viewer finds out during the film that the stark contrast between the two is because they are actually each half of a single creature, the urSkeks. While attempting to reject and deny their own darkness, the urSkeks accidentally split themselves into two parts. The part that becomes the Skeksis possesses all of the darkness; the Mystics, the light. The Mystics take the opportunity to part from the Skeksis, leaving them to their own fighting and destruction. However, since they are truly all one, whatever befalls a Skeksis is also experienced by a Mystic; the contrary also being true.

The death of a Mystic is simultaneous with the death of a Skeksis; the same with injuries, etc. As both species face extinction, the Mystics realize that they must reunite before their union is forgotten entirely and there is nothing left of either of them. Together, they are eternal. Divided they will disappear.

Okay, hippy girl, where on earth is this going?! Fear not, I’m getting there!

Embracing Inner Light and Shadow for True Unity

It recently struck me how like this story we are as a human race. We arbitrarily divide ourselves into good and evil, the “us” and the “them” and the “those people”. After centuries of evolution, we still deeply struggle to recognize our oneness. We believe strongly that we need to categorize, judge, and punish.

We contaminate our discoveries of psychology, prophets, and proverbs, using them as weapons, deepening our own wound and infecting our spirit. We hide from our own darkness, fearing and ignoring its existence, and lose the memory of wholeness and unity. Our countries, politics, religions, and technologies all artillery aimed and ready to fire. And all the while, it is ourselves that we are hurting. For what happens to one, happens to all.

During one moment in the movie, a Skeksis injures his hand and screams out in pain and anger. In the same scene, his counterpart Mystic’s hand begins to bleed. The Mystic acknowledges the injury quietly and steadily moving forward without attachment or emotion. I understand that these are fictional characters, cousins to the Muppets really, and humans cannot be expected to live without any attachment or emotion, nor would I want us to.

If we lived that way, we would learn nothing. Nothing would be imagined, accomplished, or created. But somewhere between the screams of righteousness and grief of defeat there must be common ground. We must be able to find some space, some fertile ground to plant seeds of hope and healing.

"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response."

Viktor E. Frankl

Finding the Common Ground Between Us

Not one prophet or great and noble leader would bear witness to injury and do nothing. Nor would they cast proverbial stones so swiftly that they never considered the walls of their own crystal homes. Jill Jackson beautifully wrote the lyrics “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” Each of us is responsible for our words, our actions, and our reactions. These are the external exhibits of our own internal peace or disquiet. They are the seeds that we plant in our lifetime and should be handled and distributed with care.

If we all keep our fists tightly clenched in anger and defiance, nothing will grow. There is not one of us who is not part Skeksis. Nor is there one who does not have within him or her at least a glimmer of Mystic. When we recognize and accept both sides residing within ourselves and commit to granting every individual the same consideration, we can begin our work. We can begin our healing. When we honor both sides within, embracing inner light and shadow becomes the pathway back to compassion and unity. But it cannot begin with the “them” it has to begin with the “me”.

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