What Did You Do With Jill?Jill Whalen's healthy lifestyle transformation                                               

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Some of you may have wondered where I come up with all the [crazy] [profound] [interesting] [spiritual] [odd] blog posts that I write. (Choose whichever word best describes how you feel about them!) They come from my own experiences as well as conversations I have with others. However, I also spend a lot of time watching, listening and reading various philosophies which impact what I write. Read the rest of this entry »

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I recently read a post in a Facebook group from a woman (let’s call her Jane) who was asking what people thought of the following:

Someone in her life (according to Jane): “Broke all her values, hurt her personally and deeply, made her cry and suffer and lose sleep for months.” Eventually Jane came to terms with the situation, but out of the blue the person invited her over for Christmas as if nothing had happened. She was confused and wondered what to do. Read the rest of this entry »

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Ever notice how the way we feel about pretty much anything depends on what else is going on?

Me “touching” the Louvre Pyramid

Whether it’s the mood we happen to be in, or the time of day, or whatever might be on our plate at the moment–we react differently to the same exact news. Read the rest of this entry »

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Image Credit: Jessica Lucia

Imagine you are someone who learned to play checkers from a very early age and it’s the only game you play. You know all the rules, follow them to a T and play it confidently and well. At some point in your life you meet a partner who has played chess all his life. He knows all the rules, follows them to a T and plays it confidently and well. One day you take out your board and say let’s play! You’re both familiar with the game board itself, but each have your own separate pieces and own set of rules for playing. Read the rest of this entry »

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Have you looked at leaders in your space or community, and wondered how they got there?

There could be millions of different ways, but I am 100% certain that it wasn’t by being a follower.

It seems that in our world, there are followers and there are leaders. While there can be some cross-over, for the most part we are one or the other.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Read the rest of this entry »

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If you’re into personal development and/or spiritual stuff, you may have noticed how you can read, listen or watch the same thing multiple times and hear something different.

It depends upon your mindset at the time. Read the rest of this entry »

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Most of us live our lives without ever noticing our thoughts. When we don’t know what’s going on in our heads, most of the time we act unconsciously. We allow our reactive habits and behaviors to take over, and become like robots going through our programmed ways of dealing with life.

Which is a recipe for disaster. Read the rest of this entry »

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I know it’s contrary to the way the world looks and feels on the surface, but we live in the experience of our thoughts. If you can start to grasp this strange inside-out nature of life–you’ll see and experience your own life in a whole new way. The more you truly see that it’s your own thoughts creating your experiences–and not the other way around–the more happy you’ll be. I promise!

With that in mind, here are some personal experiences where my thoughts played tricks on me and my reality changed in an instant: Read the rest of this entry »

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Is it possible to change shyness?

This past May, while attending the Innate Wellbeing Retreat in the UK, I had an epiphany about shyness–my own and that of being shy, in general.

As I was watching how people interacted, I noticed a few different personality types: Read the rest of this entry »

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My motto lately is “Baby Steps.” Pretty sure it’s the key to everything!

Looking back at my life and accomplishments, it’s been a long series of baby steps. And it’s the same for you. How could it be any other way?

There is no other way to get from here to there. Read the rest of this entry »

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I’ve been using the phrase “Uncovering Our Innate Mental Health and Wellbeing” a lot lately.  However, it occurred to me that some may not quite understand what that means means. I’m pretty sure those words wouldn’t have meant much to me a couple of years ago. The premise is that everyone–you, me, your neighbor, your spouse, your kids, murderers, cops, starving children in Africa–everyone, was born with a healthy mind. It’s our natural state. (That’s what the innate part means.)

Nobody is born angry, depressed or anxious. In other words, we are all born happy.

Read the rest of this entry »

[Jill’s Note: If you prefer to listen rather than read, please scroll to the bottom of this post for the audio version. See also the corresponding half-hour audio talk on this topic.]

What keeps you from getting fit?

What keeps you from eating healthfully?

When you are fit and healthy, what keeps you from staying that way? Read the rest of this entry »

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© Mad Magazine

You know what’s weird? Worry.

I can’t remember even one instance where something I worried about ever actually occurred. This isn’t to say that it’s never happened, but the fact that I can’t think of any tells me that my worry has a really bad track record! Read the rest of this entry »

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Last week I had been listening to Michael Neill’s Effortless Success program (mostly because I love listening to Michael’s voice!) when I took a little kayak break in our local reservoir. As I was paddling about in the water, I realized how effortlessly I was able to get from point A to B. Now I’m not talking about physical effort. I certainly had to keep paddling in order to move forward, but it didn’t take any thinking. I simply looked where I wanted to go, paddled away and arrived. This was true whether I was heading for somewhere straight ahead or a more out of the way destination. My arms just knew the right amount of give and take that I would need to get there. Read the rest of this entry »

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It’s been over 2 years since I embarked on my personal transformational journey. What started out as a simple decision to lose weight, has taken me on a magical mystery tour of mega proportions. I’m still amazed at how that one decision could lead to transformation in so many areas of my life. Read the rest of this entry »

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Okay. I admit it. I’m somewhere within the second half of my life. Does this mean my life transformation has been part of a “Midlife Crisis”? I shudder at the thought. No crisis here! But I can see how the deep inner desire for change I experienced could be unsettling for some.

It’s clear that women in their 50’s seem to have some innate desire for change.  Some do nothing (but complain) when those desires hit, others go hog wild and completely uproot their lives. Others, pursue their desires in a way that is positive and helpful. I like to think I’m in the latter group.

Midlife crises are often depicted in popular culture in a cliched manner. Career changes, leaving a spouse and taking up yoga seem to be some of the more popular cliches. Let’s examine these and see how valid they are.  Read the rest of this entry »

[Jill’s Note: If you prefer to listen rather than read, please scroll to the bottom of this post for the audio version. You may also want to watch the video where I answer some questions about anxiety.]

Disclaimer: Anyone who’s followed me for any length of time knows I’d be the first to tell you that if you see a claim on a blog that says something like “be free from anxiety without doing anything!” you should leave that blog and never come back. Which is super ironic in that’s exactly what I’m about to tell you in this blog post. However, if you bear with me, I promise that what I’ve learned and seen work in my own life is not akin to some fake “overnight success” story where if you just send me all your money I’ll tell you the secret! Not in the least. First of all, I don’t want your money. Second of all, the “secret” if you will, is actually just common sense. But you know how common sense is–not common unless you actually know it. Sadly, most of us have grown up being taught the exact opposite of what I’m about to tell you.

Sooooo…if you haven’t been scared off yet and you trust me to deliver on the goods, then the worst that will happen is you’ll think I’m a quack and move on. The BEST is you’ll hear something that just might possibly change your life.

Intrigued? Then please continue… Read the rest of this entry »

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Let’s face it, we are egocentric beings. We live in our heads and see the world through our own unique (skewed) perspective. Most of the time we forget or simply never think about the fact that everyone else on the planet is doing the same.

And guess what?

99.99% of others’ thoughts are all about them–just as 99.99% of yours are about you. (My made-up statistic. 😉 )

This is not to say that none of us care or have empathy and compassion for others. We do. But most of the time when we have other people on our minds, we are usually wondering what they’re thinking of us, or how what they’re thinking might impact us. Read the rest of this entry »

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If you knew life was just a game you could play any way you wanted, how would it change the way you live?

Many year’s ago, my husband and I were having a deep philosophical discussion about life. He remarked that perhaps life was sort of like a video game where you get to choose what level you want to play before you are born.

Want a go at an easy life? Choose the easiest level (let’s say level #1). Want something pretty easy but not so much as to be boring? Choose level #2. Think you got this life thing all figured out and want a super challenge? Choose level #10.

Whatever level you choose will be how things will play out in your life, just like in video games. Higher levels will throw more challenge and adversity your way, and it’s up to you to figure out how to navigate and manage it all. Read the rest of this entry »

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There are so many things that we think about ourselves at any given time in our lives. Much of it is a matter of conditioning and how we grew up. Some if it, especially what we think of as personality traits, seem to be innate and what we’re born with. What’s interesting, however, is that we’re not stuck with any of it–regardless of how long we believe we’ve “been that way.”

Let’s take procrastination, for example. Read the rest of this entry »