Or Why I Do What I Do

As my About Nancy page states, I am a passionate, visionary artist who believes that choice is at the heart of personal sovereignty. Further, I believe everyone has creativity deep within their bones, placed there by the Great Creator, and that we can choose to access that creativity in every area of our lives. I believe we can co-create our own stories, crafting a life-well-lived. I believe we can choose to honor our spirits, our minds, and our bodies. I believe our lives are a rich and powerful tapestry woven together by all our choices.

And so, here I am at Life Is Sweet Studios, choosing to set my intention to help myself and others create a sweet life each and every day. But how did I get here? Read on…

One day (or week or month) I had some realizations. Actually more like epiphanies, because I believe true epiphanies  become imbedded in our psyches, causing an awareness that has a good chance of leading to action. But back to my epiphanies…

I was entering/approaching my late fifties, and hadn't been regularly active for 8 years or more. I had had several joint injuries, and a couple of broken bones. I looked and felt young for my age (at least in heart and brain), except in the way my body was beginning to feel. It just plain hurt. My joints were stiff, my bones were achy, my muscles had lost strength and tone, and my flexibility and range of motion was less than it had ever been. I didn't have the same sense of balance as when I was younger and my posture was becoming painfully poor.

I noticed that all of this combined to make me move more slowly, and dang it!...like an old person! And it dawned on me that when we allow this to happen to us, we become much more prone to having an accident, as well as developing physical illnesses and mental impairment.

I had been spending all my time and energy on 'artful' pursuits (you can read the ‘about me’ which explains my on-going love affair with art), which fed my spirit’s creative urge, but in doing so, I was neglecting the piece of art that was my body. I mean, the body is an absolutely incredible creation, and I was frittering it away by neglecting movement and not nourishing it properly! At the same time, I was watching the daily decline of my dear MIL due to Alzheimers, and wondering what I could do to help protect my mind from that insidious disease.

So, I began researching some of my aches and pains, as well as ways to improve overall quality of life, and in doing so discovered I had lost the life balance that is necessary to nurture body, mind, and spirit.

I set about making changes in my life, starting with my diet. I was not really overweight but had a family history of diabetes and breast cancer, and my research informed me that inflammation is a key factor in these and other diseases. I read The Inflammation Free Diet Plan by Monica Reinagel, and began to make changes to decrease my intake of foods with high inflammatory ratings. For me, this translated to a high protein, low (bad) carb diet. The result of this one change was astounding! In just a few short weeks, my aches and pains had dramatically decreased.

I added in several minutes of stretching each day, as well as a weekly massage. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was doing a great thing for my body, beginning to rid myself of body ‘fuzz’. (See Dr. Gill Hedley Fuzz talk)  I tried a few yoga classes and found one that really resonated with me (Kundalini at Kundalini Rising in Nashville), and also purchased some Kundalini Yoga dvds by Maya Fiennes to extend my practice at home. I sought and found some great guided meditations on YouTube.  I also discovered a sensory-based movement practice called Nia, and have just recently returned from a 7 day intensive Nia White Belt training, with a fabulous trainer, Kelle Rae Oien. A few months ago, I would not have believed I could have participated in, much less survived, such an intensive training program, but here I am…more determined than ever to choose to change my life.

And so, it has become my life purpose to help myself and others regain life balance, craft a live-well-lived, find their creative muse, deepen social circles, learn new practices, and nourish and move their bodies… and to do so with joy. In short, to bring a wholeness to my life and to the lives of others…bringing bodies, minds, and spirits back to life. That is what Life Is Sweet Studios is all about. Stop by and see for yourself. You may just find your sweet life waiting to be re-discovered.