I absolutely love the Soulful Shout Out series here on Soul Speak! I get to highlight and introduce you to beautiful people and their wonderful offerings!

I love connecting people and sharing products that I love, and so I’m just thrilled to be able to do that each week with you here.

If you would like your product/website/service promoted here, please click here to read the details and then email me to apply. (I take what I share very seriously and will only share products and services that I am in alignment with.)

Please note that we’re scheduling into August – so be sure to reserve your space soon!

And now, let’s get to this week’s beautiful soul and his inspiring offerings!

This week, I am featuring Sharon Rosen from Heart of Self-Care!

Sharon and I met through our mutual friend, Sue Kearney, last fall. I immediately loved her warm energy and open heart, and I’m thrilled to introduce you to her today! She is a massage therapist, Reiki master/teacher, kabbalistic healer, wellness coach, and meditation instructor. Her focus in every encounter is on evoking the innate ability we each have to hold stress in balance and thrive in the midst of a crazy, busy life. For 25 years Sharon has led thousands of clients from overwhelm, frustration and pain to clarity, ease and relief. As they release physical and emotional discomforts, they find they can be more productive, experience better relationships and get more joy out of life.

She has put together an amazing free gift package for you plus a very special offer! We’ll talk more about these offerings soon, but first – let me introduce her!

Welcome to Soul Speak, Sharon! I would love for you to share how you began your journey of helping others heal – both physically and emotionally.

Jodi, that’s always an interesting one to ponder because it feels like that’s what I came into this world to do. I was raised to think about helping others, both through my family’s Jewish values of charitable deeds and tikkun olam (repair of the world), and through my many years as a Girl Scout, where I was taught to always leave things a little bit better than I found them.

I stepped more fully onto this path after I started exploring spirituality, psychology, and alternative healing as a way to deal with my own physical and emotional issues. I developed chronic sinus and digestive issues in my late teens, which was also when I experienced my first bout of serious depression after a major heartbreak. The fact that there was already a history of depression on both sides of my family made me become determined to find a way out that didn’t rely on either drugs or denial. It woke me up and, combined with my natural empathy and a proclivity to give neck and shoulder rubs when I didn’t know how else to help a loved one, led me to study massage therapy and energy healing.

A core part of your business centers around helping caretakers and givers learn to give to themselves. I believe that this is so important – to fill up our own cup and (as Lisa Nichols says) give from the overflow. Can you share a time in your own life where you were feeling depleted and where you weren’t taking care of yourself? How were you able to put yourself back on your priority list?

There have been so many over the years — after all, we teach what we most need to know, and balance is never a static state! But the one that sticks out for me the most right now, with the second anniversary of her death coming up, is when my mom was very ill the last few years of her life. I was living with her part-time, 80 miles from my home, while also seeing massage clients, planning my wedding and dealing with some major house repairs.

There was the emotional intensity of watching her suffer loss of function and wellbeing, as well as grieving the loss of how she used to be. And then there was the physical stress of another household to attend to. Part of the challenge was that it crept up slowly over the years — what began as joyfully lightening her load by doing a few things to make her life easier became the necessity of doing everything from shopping, cleaning, and laundry to helping with showers and dressing.

When it became clear the trend wasn’t reversing and this was now “the new normal,” I started to do little things to nurture and carve out space for myself. I might stop at a Japanese restaurant for my favorite comfort food, nabeyaki udon, as a segue between a long day of clients and heading into the muck of momma drama (as one friend called it). Instead of reading a novel or the paper, I’d take time in the morning to do some meditation, perhaps writing a small poem or journaling to connect inwardly and set my compass for the day.

I also relied on friends for support, and overall increased my level of mindful awareness to help me stay grounded and minimize the pull to “awfulize” what was happening (something I learned so well from her!). Even in those last weeks she was in the hospital — during the expansive beauty of summer — I would focus on my breath and the flowers I saw as I walked from my parking spot. I’d make sure to take breaks and go eat something nourishing or rest a bit in the hospital’s rooftop patio garden. I’m convinced these small acts helped me to stay sane during her decline and be fully present with her as she passed over.

My heart truly goes out to you for this huge loss. But I’m glad that even in the midst of this transition, you were able to find ways to take care of yourself.

We both are huge advocates for stillness, slowing down, and listening to the whispers of our soul. Can you share how your life has changed since you began really paying attention to your soul’s whispers?

What I have found is that the more I do so, the less I can “get away with” the times when I become a little lazy or complacent. It is not something you do once and then rest on your laurels!

My body is one of my best gauges for soulful awareness. If I’ve gotten off track, it generally shows up as a sinus issue (some sadness I’m not expressing or acknowledging), neck pain (there’s an obvious one!), or digestive distress (what is my being not able to digest and assimilate?).

What I love about what I do is that it keeps me honest — Heart of Self-Care is as much a life manifesto as it is a business name. I need to go back again and again to the intelligence of my heart and remember that I know what I know. Keep things simple, move my body, focus on my breath, make time for creative expression, listen to what my whole body wants to eat and not just what my mouth thinks it wants. I am so much happier when I live this way.

Much of your work revolves around enabling others to stress less and savor more. Can you share three ways that someone who is feeling frazzled and overwhelmed can immediately begin to find their center again?

I always begin with the breath, because it really is the most accessible and impactful stress reduction tool — no special equipment or clothing needed! And so easy to overlook, because it is automatic, like “yeah, yeah, breathe, big deal.” A few mindful, full body breaths can go a long way in starting the shift back to center.

Changing your position, literally, is also really helpful. We spend an inordinate amount of time tied to screens and chairs — step away from the desk if you can, stretch or walk or jump up and down a bit. Shake things out. If you really can’t get up, look out the window or at a plant for a few moments. Meditate on the aliveness that is around you and check in with all of your senses.

Another is to shift your awareness from your whirring thoughts to your heart. Breathe in and out of your heart as if there’s a nose there — begin to focus on something you are grateful for or that makes you happy for no reason (a pet, a favorite place, a beloved friend or family member) and soak in that vibe for a while.

What’s next on the horizon for you?

I will be launching a new version of my website very soon! I’ve loved my current site, and I’m excited about having a fresh new look. It will also make it easier to connect with people through my blog, plus I’ll be unveiling some new products and services for living with peace and soulful simplicity.

What does your soul want you to know?

What a great question…lately it’s been telling me to get more focused on filtering out the noise around me and getting even more quiet so I can hear its call. For example, recently I’d gotten into the habit of picking up my phone soon after waking and, next thing I know, I’m checking email and scrolling Facebook. Just this morning I instituted a “no technology before 8:30 am” rule and started with yoga and inspirational reading instead. By the time I got to my computer, I was already well-seated in myself…a much better place to move into my day from!

 

I’m so happy that you’re offering your 3 Sacred Pathways to Peace kit as a free gift! Thank you! Please tell us all about the goodness that it includes!

Jodi, it was such a joy to create this and in keeping with my overarching theme, I’ve kept it simple. Life is so complex, it tends to make us look to complex solutions for our challenges and forget that simple steps, taken consistently, will actually take us very far. The kit contains a PDF workbook and two audios that take people through an inside-out journey involving breathwork, a guided body scan, and a wonderful movement exercise called Spinal Vibrance that feels delicious as it balances the neurological system.

Click here to receive Sharon’s 3 Sacred Pathways to Peace for free!

 

That sounds truly wonderful! You’re also offering everyone a complimentary Your Path To Peace Discovery Session – so generous of you! Please share more about what someone will take into their heart during this session with you.

These sessions are designed to offer support for where the person is now as well as create clarity around the best steps for moving forward on their path to a deeply satisfying life. It’s especially helpful for someone with a vague sense of dissatisfaction or a feeling of “there’s no time to do all I need to do!” because that’s a very fertile place to plant your self-care flag. Everyone is different and we each bring all of our unique experiences to the dance floor. My goal is to guide people towards their most graceful expression of movement through the challenges of life. The discovery sessions are often experienced much like a healing.

Click here to receive a free one-on-one session with Sharon!

 

Congratulations on releasing your book, Crazy World, Peaceful Heart: 6 Core Practices for Cultivating Joy and Resilience! Thank you so much for offering it for 25% off – what a lovely gift! I would love for you to share more about it with each of us!

Thanks, Jodi! This little book is considered a gem by all who have reflected back to me their experience of reading it. It’s like having a friend you can take with you everywhere to remind you of what you may already know on some level but “forget to remember” as I like to say. In it I distilled the best of what I have learned over my years of healing both myself and others; it is part inspiration and part “playbook” filled with soul-nourishing practices that keep you coming back to the basics of heart-based self-care. And when people order directly from me it’s such a joy, because I get to make sure the book comes to them packed with plenty of love, blessings, and a special little gift.

Click here to learn more about this special offer!

 

Is there anything else you would like to share?

I am so grateful for communities like yours that allow us to use technology soulfully and as a way of really connecting with like-minded others. It’s easy to get lost behind our computer screens and smart phones, but I believe they work best when they send us back into the world better equipped to savor what we are gifted with and clear about what we need to heal and release. Thank you, Jodi, for the chance to spend time with you and your beautiful soul tribe.

Thank you, Sharon, for sharing your heart with us!

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