If we listened to our intellect, we’d never have a love affair. We’d never have a friendship. We’d never go into business, because we’d be too cynical. Well, that’s nonsense. You’ve got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.

-Annie Dillard

An excuse becomes an obstacle in your journey to success when it is made in place of your best effort or when it is used as the object of the blame.

-Bo Bennett

Well, as we progress through 2010, my other site, which is all about color, www.QueenofColor.com explains that the Color of 2010 is yellow and represents a commitment to putting yourself first, with this year offering the energy you need in order to do so.

In my Color and Energy Management workshops I help participants remember how to “see” color and another’s energy field. (I say it this way because we could all see these colors and energy as children, we just forget that we remember)…and we all start with the feet. The feet are perhaps the easiest to decipher, and when I read your energy, I look at your feet and then scan upwards to see what colors, what energy, is present in your field. Each part of your body represents a different aspect of your body/mind connection, and what color is present or NOT present in that certain area gives me the information you need to help you understand and deal with your current circumstances.

The energy around your feet often set the precedent for the entire reading. Feet represent moving forward and how you accept progress in your life. The color and the way it is presented offers more details for me as to what challenges you are facing and how you intend to proceed. What I interpret in a reading may or may not have anything to do with tissue issues surrounding your feet, the energy I see and decipher is about where you currently stand on the issues and relationships in your life.

This week’s Kick! is about challenges you may have with your feet and what connection they have with your life in general. The feet reflect your body. Feet are the part of us that moves us forward first and furthest (fact and figuratively). Feet allow us to extend our being.

Issues with your feet are directly related to your willingness to move forward, or NOT move forward. Injuries, whether severe or slight need to be looked at with equal attention, as they hold the same message, one more severe than the other, of course, but the same message. And if the message is not heeded, then there is the possibility to have a more severe message delivered. So, it is always nice to listen to the feathers!

The left side of the body represents acceptance, Left can also represent a predominant female energy in your life, if you are female, then it could also include you but other influential feminine energy may need to be examined.

Since the foot is about moving forward, the left foot represents allowing or accepting opportunities that may help you move forward. Injuries to your left foot would represent a resistance to help or a resistance to accepting opportunities that could help you move forward. In fact, left leg, foot, or even you hip would indicate to me as a medical intuitive that you are definitely getting in your own way! Your body has been patient enough, now it is time to intervene and therefore pain or injury has manifested in order to communicate to you to shift.

Your right foot represents releasing or letting go, this could be people or opportunities that are anchoring you down and keeping you from moving forward. It can also represent a predominant male energy in your life, if you are male, then it could also include you. Injuries to your right foot would indicate a reluctance or hesitance to let go of the junk (yes, junk) that is holding you down, holding you back. Interestingly enough, I often observe people that hoard or are “pack rats” have issues with their right sides, whether it is foot, leg, hand or arm…but it all represents letting things go in order to move forward.

Think about what is going on in your life and whether or not you feel safe to move forward? Whether it is left or right foot, it is all about moving forward and what it will take to allow that to happen. You either need to accept help, or cut loose what no longer serves you. If it gets to the point where your body is communicating through aches or pains, then there needs to be some serious considerations as to what and how you need to shift. If you are married and your issues correspond with spouse, it may not mean you need to “cut them loose” as much as you need to become more conscientious of their role in your life, is it to help or to hinder?

If it gets to the point where there is injury, that is a serious message from the universe that immediate attention needs to be given! In my weight release workshops I talk about exercise-related injuries and how these can be a wonderful clue in helping one define obstacles regarding your weight release process. Many of those embarking on new exercise regimes will often be confronted with exercise-related injuries (or injuries that impede their ability to exercise). It can be very informative as to what side of the body the injury occurs, as much as what body part is affected. Usually it is the foot, ankle, or leg that is involved with impeding the weight release process, particularly where exercise is concerned.

Affirmations (self-hypnosis) are a successful approach to the obstacles your body presents through the physical signs of hesitation in moving forward. Whether it deals with weight release or just life changes, pay attention to your feet, as they have no agenda! Your BODY does not have an agenda, so it serves you well to take a moment and listen to what it is communicating.

Reflexology is based on the premise that all the internal organs of the body are reflected in the feet. So looking not only at the common foot issues from my metaphysical perspective, but also as a reflection of your body is another level of body/mind communication. Common foot issues and what it means metaphysically:

Toes are more about the details of your forward motion, as they are an extension of the feet. In a sense, issues with toes are about getting in your own way and spending too much time on the little things, rather than the bigger picture.

Corns represent resistance, usually due to lack of confidence. That is why the skin (confidence) becomes thick and the pain can impede any forward motion.

“Turned Feet” Depending how the feet are turned when walking indicates how one will decide to pass through this life. Outward indicates confusion about which way to go in life, as one foot is “pointed” on was and the other is in the opposite direction. Inward pointing feet are more about being hesitant and indecisive about direction.

Bunions I first read about the metaphysical meaning of bunions from a book by Debbie Shapiro, The Bodymind Workbook. She explains that bunions manifest at a time when we enter into a dominant relationship. We enter into that relationship because there is reluctance to being on this earth so we want to turn over our lives to someone else, as a way to escape. I can personally vow for that, I had a painful bunion on my right foot which manifested after marriage. I do not have any issues with it now! Amazing…

Hammer Toes are about stress, similar to clutching your toes, there is an indication of some serious reluctance to move forward.

Arches are about self and setting boundaries. Flat feet are about not having any separation between your private life and the rest of the world. High arches are all about setting boundaries (even walls!) between personal and private life.

Heels are all about being grounded, even the term “digging your heels in” means commitment and staying power, holding on no matter what.

Swollen feet and ankles are all about emotion, as edema is water retention and water is person to person relationships. Swelling of the feet occur when we fear moving forward for emotional reasons, it is just too much.

Blisters are also about emotion, as they are skin that fills up with fluid/emotion. They indicate that there is friction and there are emotional challenges “rubbing” you the wrong way. So take time and discern as to left or right? Sorry, won’t let you blame the new shoes…

If your feet hurt after you finish your day and you are resting. not on them, it is a message to stop doing so much so quickly and take time to balance!

Well, on that note, I hope you enjoyed this week’s Kick! (no pun intended). It’s time for me to go soak my feet and read my own blog! LOL

Have a wonderful week! Blessings. Catherine

One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t do.

–Henry Ford

You need to make a commitment, and once you make it, then life will give you some answers.

–Les Brown

I understand this is a bit of a twist to the way we approach our personal weight issues, but as I have always said, your body does not have an agenda. Understanding what the metaphysical messages are regarding fat and where you carry it on your body is the first step in ANY successful weight release program.

We are all inundated right now with the New Year and countless ads on TV for every diet out there. I particularly like the new Alli ads, a pill that does not discourage eating fatty foods because it blocks 50% of the fat you eat! In this month’s Reader’s Digest it is reported that more people will die from obesity-related dis-ease than hunger. That did get my attention, although I am an avid believer that it is not about food, nor is it about exercise, at least initially.

My approach is so different from anything out there, why? Because fat is not about food, fat is about fear and protection. Why do some people carry their fat around their waist? While others carry it around their arms and their neck? Why do some people have love handles? Or some carry it everywhere? Their fat cushions them like a suit of armor? Your fat is a clue, a message for you about what issues in life are holding you back –or “weighing you down” from living your truth, from being happy.

Weight issues are as much about the emotions (energy) you accept and/or the emotions (energy) you protect. Where you carry your fat is a clue as to what issues and emotions are involved. Subconsciously, your fat cells protect you from “leaking energy”. Think of carrying fat as “energy management”, in a sense that is what this is about, and of course, color and energy management is what I focus on in my practice.

My years as a medical intuitive and hypnotist, have allowed me to work with many learning from obesity, diabetes, and related lessons. In a sense, I interpret the body’s messages so that a client can understand the connection between their life, their language, and their body.

Fat is manifested fear: fear of success, fear of intimacy, and fear of change. Where do you carry your fear? Once you are honest with yourself, discover what you are actually afraid of, and give your body permission to move forward the true release can begin.

Metaphysically, the accumulated fat on your body is communicating where your fears are based. You are either holding something in or keeping something out. Fat is protecting your energy, so I can look at location and discern the issue you are protecting with the (fat) tissue.

Color within your energy field is also an important clue, it tells me what you allow in and what you shut out. This can be experiences, people, or both. For example, those learning (and teaching) from diabetes carry their yellow energy around their middles like an inner tube or the Rings of Saturn!

Knowledge is power. When you know WHY you are holding on, it is a lot easier to give yourself permission to release the weight, and consequently, the fat. In my workshops, looking at the body part by part, is the first step in understanding what YOU are trying to communicate to YOU!

Often weight issues are manifested for what I call “course correction” meaning: your body is attempting to get your attention and get you back on track to your soul’s purpose, your life’s purpose-which is to be HAPPY. When you do not listen to the first few pounds, then it often “creeps up” or escalates, and then eventually cascades. Cascading is what I refer to as compounded lessons along with the fat manifestation, such as high blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, lower back or leg pain…they are all messages that get more and more audible!

Looking at Yourself: Part by Part

Your body is a puzzle waiting to be solved. Instead of looking at fat as a curse and a nemesis, it is now a messenger. I often say that “ the issue is in the tissue, and the tissue tells us the issue” in the case of fat, it is really about the “fat that protects the issue”.

Your Stomach: Belly Fat (yes, even the “muffin top”): This is emotionally linked to self and self-esteem. We often will gain here when we have had a major shift in our life, such as marriage, college, new job, etc. Why? We are threatened and our stomach is the most vulnerable part of our body, so we protect it with fat.

All-Over Gain is similar to a “Suit of Armor” because it is protection from everything and everyone. It represents fear of success and is manifested to keep you anchored -either in present or past issues.

Thighs and Hips: Hips are about fear of choosing a direction so you just stay put. The thighs pertain to intimacy and opening up emotionally.

Love Handles. In reality, this fat has manifested in order to protect you on an emotional level. Ironically they are called “love handles,” when in fact they have manifested to keep distance.

Buttocks: Your rear end is about making sure “you’re covered”. Fat in this area is manifested when you feel threatened. It is interesting to note that occupations requiring a certain level of accountability can contribute to this area of fat gain.

Arms: Fat arms reflect our fear in the ability to bring others close to our hearts and fear in our ability to reach out and hold often because there is a fear of rejection.

Busts: Weight around the chest and bust protects your heart center. It keeps intimacy out, and keeps yourself in. Large, fatty busts reveal that, on some level, there is fear of expressing your love, which is associated with rejection.

Throat/Chin: This indicates fear of speaking their truth. You may have a close association with a controlling individual and therefore have difficulty finding your voice. It can be a conflict between survival and truth.

My work with weight release is dedicated to your mind/body connection and healing your spirit. One of the most important components in my work and my workshops is to help you identify what you are actually telling your body. Listening to your language and realizing that your body is often just doing what you ask is a vital clue to shifting your life.

Workshops, such as the one being offered at Topsail Island address your body’s messages, but also your numerology, as well as the connections to past life triggers. Often in my work I find that past life experiences are not so much about food but more about fear of moving forward.

Discovering that connection between fear of moving forward and when the fat began to manifest never ceases to amaze me! Our bodies carry emotional memory, cell memory from our other lives and sometimes when there is an incident that has not been resolved it can surface in your current life. Often because there are parallel emotions or circumstances that “wake up” that fear or that need for protection. This is particularly true for those that gain “all of a sudden” after having been thin forever!

One example was a client that had undergone bariatric surgery and came to me when she began to gain back what she had released. This beautiful woman was regressed to a lifetime where she was a Native American and she described herself as she stood on the edge of a woods, next to a shoreline to greet “new explorers” that had arrived.

The encounter ended in a brutal rape and murder. She was stabbed in the stomach and died there by the woods. When she had her surgery (stomach cut open) it triggered the emotional memory of the traumatic event. Being heavy she was protected and safe. When she became thinner, she was more attractive and felt very vulnerable so her response was to put the walls of protection back up.

This situation is where hypnosis is wonderful in working with the subconscious mind to recondition the old behavioral patterns. Again, knowledge IS power, and sometimes understanding where the behavior patterns originate can help you to consciously redirect your language and your thoughts. It is your spiritual right to be happy and your body will help you in any way it can.

If you are interested in attending my Topsail Workshop that will be focusing on these principles as well as many other aspects of the weight release journey, we have opened up the second adjoining condo ON THE OCEANFRONT! WOO!HOO!

And don’t worry, it isn’t about food or exercise, so you won’t have THAT kind of workout! This wonderful weekend is an “inner workout” offering quality time with me and a phenomenal group of people. It will be a wonderful gift for you or someone you love! Blessings to you! Have a wonderful week.

February 6 and 7, 2010, Topsail Island, NC. Call Bryn Blankinship for details 910-620-0110 www.hypnoticsolutions.org

The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream….

Dreams are the seedlings of realities.

–James Lane Allen

Dreamers are the architects of greatness. Their brains have wrought all human miracles….Your homes are set upon land a dreamer found. The pictures on its walls are visions from a dreamer’s soul….they are the chosen few-the blazers of the way-who never wear doubt’s bandage on their eyes.

–Herbert Kaufman

Dreams. Hmmm…How many times growing up were you told to “get your head out of the clouds” or to “stop day dreaming”? It also goes beyond just setting dreams and goals, it is about residing in the energy and emotions of your dreams several times throughout your day. I remember how I used to sit in front of my phonograph (OK, I date myself here) but I would listen to certain albums, certain songs, and dream, imagine where I would be when I grew up.

The amazing part of that experience is that my life is not too far off from my John Denver songs and dreaming about my farm! I lost sight of that dream for a while, in part because I was discouraged by so many that I would never have those things “Catherine, you have no business having a farm”. My dreams did not make sense to my mother, my father, nor to others. As I continued through my education and adult life I found myself constantly trying to make myself into what others thought I should be, losing sight of who I was. But something tugged at me everytime I heard those songs and dreamed those dreams. To the point where I never listened to them anymore. But rediscovering them and listening once again made me realize that the “something” that tugged was my “Happy”. What we tend to avoid is the shifts and shakes we must do to get back on track. We are all here to find our “Happy” and unfortunately, finding your happy and making someone happy are two different things.

We lose our “happy” when we lose our dreams along the way…whether that is through compromise, keeping the peace, or the worst, needing to pursue a career for money rather than what you want to do…this is the year, 2010, to revisit what makes YOU happy, or perhaps imagine what will make you happy for the first time. Formulate some daydreams around that happy and use these dreams as fuel for change.

One little warning, and most that know me know I am not a “doom and gloom” person, but, you must be careful who you share your dreams with. I know this sounds selfish, but it is important that your dreams are reinforced and nurtured. So often they are extinguished by a parent, a friend, a spouse and we just get to a point where we feel we are too old, too tired, too “outnumbered” to persevere. Well, it is a new year, and time to either resurrect your shelved dreams OR create new ones that suit your purpose and create your “Happy”.

Day-dreaming goes beyond just imagination and formulation of a life you may or may not feel you can achieve. Day-dreaming is manifesting. It is the first step in shifting your energy and putting reality into motion. It is perhaps some of the most fun you can have without spending a dime! I have talked about manifesting and the “Magic Refrigerator” before, but not necessarily emphasized the day-dreaming component.

When you can be still, create a scenario that you desire and then imagine yourself experiencing it. Feel it with all the wonderful emotions that come with it, (I call it “feelization”…) you then shift your current energy. When that energy is raised and you have shifted your vibrations, through your “day-dreaming” you then set into motion situations and opportunities that will facilitate the fruition of those dreams!

The beauty of this is also about energy management from two different standpoints. First, raising your vibrations brings in higher, more beneficial circumstances as well as putting your dream into motion. The second benefit is to realize that you cannot solve a problem in the same energy that created it. So, if your ex, or your boss, or your sister is “pushing your buttons” and you are giving them your energy (no one can ever take it, but they can sure goad you into giving it!) shift from angst and anger to your day-dreams! It takes practice, but once you realize what they are doing, it is easier to not give them the satisfaction. It doesn’t sound “higher self” but in fact it is, you are not partaking of their invitation to bring you down energetically.

You shift your energy UP and only higher vibrations (higher energy people bringing higher energy opportunities) can reside with you in that space. That is what it means to be invisible to those who do not serve your highest good.

What are your dreams? Do you have any theme songs to coincide with them? I have songs that match my day-dreams and I listen to them in the morning when I wake up, with my ipod set to my specific playlist. I just lay there in bed and listen, play out scenarios in my head, and feel wonderful about what I visualize because I know it is closer and closer to becoming a reality every time I dream and FEEL how wonderful it is to be in that situation. My daydreams have been adjusted as they come into fruition, they actually become clearer and more detailed as to what, whom, and other peripheral details are then added.

I find as I continue on my journey and meet wonderful people with wonderful opportunities my dreams are not replaced, they are refined!

Situations and opportunities arise that I could not even begin to predict or understand, but it brings two other important points:

“Pray to God, but keep hammering”

Don’t worry about HOW you will get to your dream’s fruition, just keep visualizing you are already there.

Giving yourself stipulations or conditions is GETTING IN YOUR OWN WAY, just take the opportunities that feel good, feel right –and usually they are the”gifts”: the opportunities that fall into place.

That is where the “keep hammering” comes in! So many people out there buying in to the “Law of Attraction” and “The Secret” then criticizing it do not work toward their goals, they just wait and twiddle their thumbs. (You know what that means from my “Thumbs Up! Blog)

I can see where it can get confusing, what is the difference between “getting in your own way” and working towards your goal? The difference more than anything is about progress and continuing your journey, and that journey will hopefully be the one that carries your passion with it. Micromanaging is getting in your own way (and everyone else’s LOL).

I work hard, and I love what I do and I use the word “work” but it isn’t because it is fascinating, interesting, rewarding, and just fun. I know that every week, writing a blog, filming a video, seeing my clients, and doing at least five things to market myself every day is part of what I can do as I continue to achieve my dreams. I don’t just sit and wait for me to be “discovered” (Quit picturing Nora Desmond, I am not that old) I continually put efforts toward letting people know how talented, funny, and professional I am. And I am. I believe it, you have to in the psychic business, or as my dad used to say (and still does upon visits from the other side), “Little sister, your first vote is ALWAYS for YOU or they’ll eat you alive!” He is so right, on the confidence part, the negative scripting does need to be reworked!

I was getting in my own way when I tried to over extend myself with workshops, free talks to so many local groups, extensive phone calls, useless book signings, you name it. I also set all my intentions on clients thinking that was the only way to generate an income! I got in my own way by putting conditions on happy and conditions on abundance rather than letting the universe deliver to me what I requested AND visualized, AND put my emotional stamp on…once I figured THAT out (tell the universe what I wanted and step aside and let it work) miracles occurred on a daily basis (and still do).

Now, to add a little more to the “Magic Refrigerator” and your day-dreaming process, it is important for you to find images, phrases, and words that represent your daydreams. I take time out of my day or evening and “update” my fridge as my dreams come into fruition. I put myself into my daydreams and scenarios while I search for images, phrases, cut them out, and post them. This magnetizes them even more, particularly if you “program” your joy and emotions into the images and phrases. As you see them on the fridge, or wherever you post them, you can “go there” immediately so many times a day by just looking at them. Another subliminal benefit to the “Magic Refrigerator” is the underlying impression that we too are magnets! So I LOVE the idea of magnets holding my dreams. I play and rearrange, but also feel it all playing out as I look at my fridge every day!

If you are currently in a challenging situation, no matter how small or how HUGE, dream yourself healthy, dream yourself wealthy, most importantly, dream yourself HAPPY and watch the magic of manifesting begin. Success, happy, abundance is only a dream away! Please, if you need help or advice as to where your happy is, or help getting “unstuck”  call for an appointment. Again, if you are in a 9 or a 5 Personal year, make an appointment, both are about new directions and shifts. “Cosmic Academic Advising” is my specialty! All my best for you this week and EVERY week! Blessings, Catherine