Category: Mental Reset

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The Art of Alignment

Did you ever wake up and think how did I get here? What is life trying to teach me? And why must I stay on this path? For me, this is something I ponder with curiosity almost daily.

As I always try to move forward with Integrity and Intention… my mind wanders back to “all the things.” The whys and ways of my old life. The demand to myself of changing my habits and body. The rawness of exposing my booze addition, my previous obesity, and the hallway of self-sabotage I was trapped in.

The efforts of searching and trusting what nutrition I choose and what supplements I will make a priority in taking are all things that as I age and gain wisdom… become of utmost importance. Alignment happens when we stay in agreement with ourselves… not the wishes of others!

Alignment happens when we pray, we manifest, and we know that the people, friends, acquaintances you are connected with are pivotal in reaching your dreams and goals. The sport I love more than almost anything, has connected me with the most amazing humans. Hard work, grit, sacrifice, kindness, are just the tip of what we have in this community.

Whether you are a runner, walker, swimmer, biker, hiker, yoga teacher, friend, family member, or just along to learn and grow… know your purpose is important, the language of life you speak will be the enlaced in your legacy.

We all hide from reality. We don’t like to talk about the hard and messy things. We believe we can do it alone, we choose mediocrity every time. Find time for readjustment and alignment. Work hard to hustle for what you know is yours and claim the possibility of loving life.

I will be looking for those ready to align with me… to take chances, and discuss visions of only goodness, wholeness and wellness. We can’t do it alone… but together, we can rise 💛. May your attention be on your alignment and may only goodness cover you.

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We Made It.

As I end this Friday and welcome the weekend, I pause today to take a simple step in counting blessings.

We get so consumed day in and day out with work, with the rat race of life… we simply do not pause enough in gratitude for what we have.

Today, I was shown true kindness and appreciation from a patient and their family. I am thankful to be able to fuel my body with goodness, and come home to a place that feels both comfortable and peaceful.

Tonight I get to use my pen and my journal and release all that went well this week, all the pent-up nonsense that must be let go, and as fast as my hand will go… continue to create and manifest all the wonderful moments, challenges, and magical things that are yet to unfold.

It’s a simple but rarely done activity… because we merely lose touch with what is truly important.

Maybe you found a lucky penny, maybe a friend made you smile, maybe your coffee was paid for, or maybe you just simply made it through another day. Give thanks and celebrate whatever it is.

Life only comes once. We have once chance to break the seal of fear, and dance with possibility. Count your blessings… and lay your head tonight in victory. We made it through another day ☀️.

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Take More Detours

Take a detour? Why, Suzanne? Detours are longer, they are often not the road we intended. They are sometimes scary and leave us without knowledge of where we are going or where we will end up.

The detours of my own journey were and still are crucial to where I’m headed. I wasn’t prepared for the crash and burn of several of the circumstances that were delivered to me without permission, nor the ones I allowed to repeatedly and constantly cause me self-anguish.

Taking a detour is necessary. Get off the route that has not served you. Get off the route that has continually let you down, has sabotaged your efforts, and has hijacked your mind into believing that “you can’t” or “it doesn’t matter.”

It does matter… you matter… your health and wellness matters. What you think of yourself matters. What you dream and desire to achieve matters. Take a left turn, and travel down a road unfamiliar. Ponder what it is that is stopping you. Breathe in all that is wonderful, and exhale all the BS you didn’t invite.

Take a detour today, and trust that this quiet unfamiliar place… is a space meant just for you. Be inspired at what both its softness and hardness teach you. 

May your detour today be exactly what you need. Treat your body and your mind well today. Onward, Loves.


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About Suzanne

Suzanne Swanson makes it her personal mission to help people on the path to recovery. Her own struggles with alcohol and food have led her to a place of wanting to give back to the world. Need support around setting goals, and getting healthy in every aspect of your life? Sign up for our mailing list.

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Light Bringer.

Are you a light bringer and a world shifter?

I get it. No… like I really get it. I ask myself, am I really of this time and space? Has my brain been hijacked? Am I truly witnessing this world fall apart before my eyes?

What happened to the value of a dollar? The meaning of a handshake and its honor for trust. The family table at dinner time, and simplicity of holding the door for someone.

Every day I get challenged. My demons want to me to re-introduce myself. The whiskey bottle subliminally hovers, and the processed comfort foods beg for a chance to take their stronghold.

These things always resurface… coming up for just enough air to try pull me back down… to prove the vicious cycle can reset.

To shift and grow… to brighten and conquer… I must eagerly remind myself of the teachings of my sneakers… and this road.

The conditions are constantly changing. Things insidiously try to stop me from smiling, trick me into un-believing in my ability to play my part in making this world better, and knock me off course so the light dims and conceals my purpose to myself and others.

You have the ability to shine and shift today. Grace is here… there is no need to fight yesterday. Block the mental dimming switch, refuse to stay stuck, and inch your feet just a little.

You’ll ask yourself… will this really matter? To me? To others? The short answer is yes… someone is learning from you. Teach them well.

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“New Year, New You”

Sleepless nights. Tossing and turning. Hating my choices. Angry at where life “put me.” Feelings of low self esteem. Daily wars with my inner self. HATE. EAT. DRINK. REPEAT.

That was my life for years, only I did it in silence so I could isolate myself from penetrating words, good people, and the truth.

It wasn’t until the long distance sport of running taught me to be tougher than my demons. It taught me patience, and endurance. 

It taught me humbleness, and mercy. It taught me that a little daily discipline, coupled with passion, and a good diet could be the answer to unlocking the door and leaving my living hell, and a hell I chose to stay in far too long.

We all hear the same crap. “It’s a New Year, New You”… “Start tomorrow, today is over.” “I’m going to do it… just not today.” 

I’m here to tell you: today counts. This minute counts. You don’t need a new month, or new turn of the numbers to give you permission to become your greatest self. Our addictions, the errors of our ways, and our poor choices can only thrive if we allow them to.

Be done with your own crap. Take the good advice you give others but never follow yourself. Make YOU a priority, don’t over complicate it. Eat a vegetable, drink more water, and let your story tell itself.

Somewhere today someone is watching you. Be a good teacher, and be a kind human. That. Is. All.

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Transient Thursday

She took a trip deep inside her. She didn’t pack much for this day trip. She wasn’t staying long… her past asked her to sit, pull up a chair, and stay awhile.

She smiled softly with an all knowing that the overthinkers, the overwhelmers, the doubters, all the cunning games of her mind would soon enter the room for a visit too.

She allowed them all to sit and one by one she gave them an opportunity to pitch their deal of opportunity to her… if she chose to stay.

As she got up to leave they spoke quickly and desperately, asking why she was leaving so soon.

“I’m a transient guest today,” she answered.

“I respect what you have taught me. I acknowledge the things I cannot change, and I will never give up and allow you to hijack the contentedness that I cultivated from the cracks of light that you barely let in.”

My past is impermanent, my presence is joy, and my future is whatever I want it to be… and so is yours.

Know that the places we must visit from time to time are necessary. That sometimes to “become” we must “unbecome” first. That the dark places deep within us are often softer, and kinder than we think.

The greatest of your strengths are often built from the aftermath. Settle for nothing less than what brings you warmth, brilliance, and passion.

“Shut the door on your way out,” the past screamed… and with her eyes she spoke:

“Think twice about inviting me next time… good day.”

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Timeless Tuesday

So you get up today and you say to yourself… ah S*#%, it’s just another Tuesday. You think about all the crap you did or didn’t do right yesterday. You punish yourself for the failed efforts of both personal and professional goals.

You let the television, the false promises of society, and the stigmas that have been branded into us for years take the lead role in your play of life.

I didn’t want to face reality. I didn’t want to stop guzzling whisky, I didn’t want to eat kale and superfoods. I wanted pity… I wanted comfort food, and I wanted to hide in my deep dark abyss of self loathing.

Get up… get dressed…. and get out of your own way. It’s not “just another Tuesday.”

Today can be the day of renewal, of starting over if you must, of making a list of crap you’re not tolerating and sticking to it.

Today is a day of uprooting all the nonsense, of reaching out for help, and finally putting you first.

Take special care today to forgive yourself. Know you are given grace each morning, and that small steps of determination will always win over large leaps of fear and uncertainty.

“Beautiful girl, you can do hard things.”

You’re damn right I can…#RUNBEFOREYOUFLY

#tuesdays #yesyouabsolutelycan


Journaling Course is Here!

Heads up for those interested in journaling for self-therapy, setting positive goals and welcoming an attitude of gratitude to ease stress and improve health overall.

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Learn more about this journaling challenge and sign up for the course here.

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Illusions.

Don’t be fooled by false promises, quick fixes, instant gratifications, or if you act nows!

Life is full of short-lived crap that is assured if we turn down the “I know a short cut” road. Every part of your path is meant for exactly where you need to be.

The long road, the slow and steady pace, the stay-the-course path that you know is right… will lead you to your place of joy, contentment, and peace.

I do it too. I get anxious, I get annoyed when I don’t see results fast enough. I let the brutal lessons I have learned in the past overtake my mind, and suddenly I am cross-examining myself to induce doubt, fear, and be strong held to what I know isn’t for me.

Our health, our wellness, our internal peace… our innate ability to help others become better… begins when we do not negotiate with doubters, guilt inflictors, or evil thoughts of the mind.

Illusions look good. They are pretty, perfectly pretended, and often false.

Draw the curtains, let the light show you the truth… and remember you are only buying what you sell yourself…

#RUNBEFOREYOUFLY

#wakeupandrun #mamaknows

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Shaken or Grounded?

Are you shaken, or grounded?

Arising to face the day can meet us each with a choice. Do we allow things to shake us upside down and apart? Or can we root deeply into the earth and ground ourselves?

I know for me… ridiculous thoughts, unhealthy patterns, and toxic people will continue to try to seep through my protective barriers in hopes of initiating unsteadiness and crumbling my solid footing.

Stumbling a bit is okay. Actually, it’s quite necessary in the grounding process. We are not meant to do it right all the time. We are not meant to be perfect.

We are meant to receive daily grace, find acceptance in the beautifully broken, seek only those who better us. This is how we land at the place where we will root our foot and ground ourselves in what we believe in and fight for.

If you move about awkwardly today… it’s okay.
If you are unsure and stumble a bit… it’s okay.
If you aren’t sure why you’re here or where you’re going… it’s okay.
But when you feel like the moment is right… ground down… plant your feet… release all that is not serving you.

Allow all that has shaken you to dissolve… and find the steadiness you deserve.

So… shaken or grounded❓ You choose… 👈🏻

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Runner’s Mantra

When we stay in tune with our inner being, we recharge our power. Yoga and meditation are important for me as a runner to seek gratitude in my capabilities.

As a human being, these practices allow me to reset my focus. They set me back into the present moment and sketch a blueprint for my well-being and success.

I can easily get sucked back into conflicting thoughts. I can easily get drawn into a vortex of shit that promises success and elation but only delivers despair and destruction.

Today, seek what is good. Demand nothing but that which will fill you with happiness and promise.

Leave toxic crap where it belongs… and rise above the people and things you set you back. This leg of my journey always brings challenge… but this woman will always bring grit, and self-will.

Rise up today from wherever you are. Re-set. Re center. Re-focus, and then hold yourself.

Tell yourself you’re listening… you are trying… and that you are loved.

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