<![CDATA[The Comfort Apothecary

<![CDATA[The Comfort Apothecary - Blog]]>Fri, 07 Aug 2026 08:23:13 -0400Weebly<![CDATA[ChatGPT Analyzed My Business]]>Thu, 06 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.thecomfortapothecary.com/blog/chatgpt-analyzed-my-business
There's an award-winning creator on YouTube named Daryn Strauss who has been advising other creators to start thinking like a showrunner, and treating your channel like a show. I've been fascinated by her videos and have tried to apply it to my own work - because I believe that it can lead to clarity about YouTube or anywhere.

So when she asked the 5 important questions (see graphic below), I tried to answer them. But then I asked ChatGPT. And boy, did he have a lot of insight to share!

I Know My Business Better Now

I guessed that my archetype was Sage, and he said that that might sometimes be how I am seen, but there was an undercurrent he calls Hearth Keeper, that he says is just as influential.

I can see what he means. And as I look back on my business, I can see both threads woven through it.

But what was most exciting was when we talked about what my worlds are. I made some suggestions and he said, those are topics, thank you very much.

And then he named what he sees as my worlds, and it was like putting pieces into a puzzle and beginning to see the picture take shape.

They are...

the journey home - which includes helping healers/lightworkers remember who they are.

the comfort apothecary - which includes all things coziness and comfort, which I'll say more about later.

the cozy studio - I'm not sure I'd call it that, but it's sort of sharing how I'm living my life, including what works and what didn't along the way.

the healing library - which is where I share remedies & rituals and other practical help.

You can see more about these worlds in the graphic below...

My Unique Lens

We each came up with one and I think they both are a perfect fit. The first one is in the header graphic and the second is one I haven't shared yet, but I believe it is the truth we don't want to acknowledge.

(1) Small, cozy practices can help us stop believing the old story and start living the true one.

(2) Let's be real - our shadow self isn't going anywhere. So we might as well make peace with it, and learn how to dust around it.

How would you answer those 5 questions?

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

]]><![CDATA[Autumn Anxiety Has an Address]]>Tue, 04 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.thecomfortapothecary.com/blog/autumn-anxiety-has-an-address
Remember my post last week about autumn anxiety? Well, I think I have figured out where it lives...

I've been writing a bit lately about autumn anxiety because it sneaks up on me every single year.

One day I'm thinking that pollen season is finally letting up. I think I'm about to enter my good time of the year.

And then, without warning, I start overreacting to things that normally wouldn't bother me nearly as much. Everything feels harder.

Appointments become something I wish I could magically erase from my calendar. I start having less energy and more fatigue.

And if one thing goes wrong, my mind starts writing disaster movies. Does that sound familiar?

And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that so many of the things I've been experiencing sound remarkably similar to what many people associate with the sacral chakra.

Autumn Anxiety & The Sacral Chakra

Start with an Emotional Check-in

One good reason to consider exploring whether or not what you're experiencing with autumn anxiety fits some of the possible experiences connected to the sacral chakra is that there is still not that much known about autumn anxiety. But there's A LOT known about how to respond to sacral chakra issues.

The sacral chakra is commonly connected with emotions, creativity, enjoyment, desire, and your ability to respond to change. And sacral chakra self-care can support you when you feel emotionally restricted, disconnected from pleasure, or afraid to express your creative side.

So the first step is to pause and ask yourself how you're feeling.

You may be calm, irritated, hopeful, lonely, bored, excited, or uncertain. Try to identify the strongest feeling without deciding that it is good or bad.

Pay attention to how you're feeling physically as well, noticing tension in your stomach, restless movement, fatigue, or a desire to withdraw. Feeling irritable, bored, not able to enjoy your favorite things, wanting to withdraw and having difficulty are all sacral chakra experiences.

After you have identified what you're experiencing, ask yourself whether the feeling needs expression, comfort, action, or time.

You don't have to solve the emotion during the check-in. Just get a feel for what's going on.

Autumn Anxiety & Sacral Chakra Self-Care Rituals

(1) Find a way to express what you're feeling...

Give your feelings a safe form of expression that fits your comfort level. You might write in your journal, talk to someone you trust, listen to music, sing your heart out, cry, draw, or say what you feel aloud when you are alone.

Deciding to express your feelings is not the same as acting on every impulse or directing your frustration toward someone else. It just means that you're acknowledging what you're experiencing and finding an outlet for them.

(2) Reconnect with something that brings you pleasure...

Choose something that appeals to you, like preparing a favorite meal, listening to music you love, watching something funny, or wearing your most comfy pjs. Give yourself permission to do something just for fun.

Now, if like me, you may not always want to do the things you would normally love. That's part of the challenge of autumn anxiety. But I am learning not to let that stop me, because it will help me in a way that I might not be able anticipate.

(3) Do something creative that helps you explore and express your feelings...

Write or draw in your journal, create a playlist just to express your mood, dance to one of your favorite songs, or try a variation on a recipe you know like the back of your hand.

(4) Try moving your body in easy ways to help you release what you're feeling...

Stretching, swaying, shake out your hands. (It doesn't have to be a workout. We're not training for the Olympics. 😄)

But because our feelings often affect us physically, even a little movement can be one of the things that helps you feel better.

With all of these suggestions, you can experiment to see what works for you. And when you find something that does, add it to your list of resources.

As I mentioned in my most recent post, singing and swaying and clapping along with Pub Choir has helped me tremendously in the past few days.

I hope you find several things that work as well or better for you.

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

]]><![CDATA[30-Day Divine Dialogue Challenge]]>Sun, 02 Aug 2026 02:30:00 GMThttps://www.thecomfortapothecary.com/blog/divine-dialogue-challenge
Hey guys! Today is the beginning of a 30-day divine dialogue challenge led by Karen from Ask the Spirit Guides. Click that link to find out more.

Well, the day's not over yet but I am already glad to have done today's writing.

Most of us treat our Spirit Team like an emergency contact. We call when life falls apart, when we need an answer, or when we're desperate for a sign. But what if that's not the relationship they want with us? What if they've been hoping to be part of the ordinary days too? - Karen

My Day One Experience

Gotta say, this day did not start out well! And I'm still not sure I would call it a good one.

But I do believe it has been guided, and that's why I'm grateful for the journaling I did earlier today. I got several ideas that helped me solve a problem, and in general did not feel alone.

But the best part is what's happening right now, as I type. The other day, I mentioned having autumn anxiety, and today, I was feeling it. But I wasn't just anxious, I was irritable and agitated, too.

Moments of Goosebump Happiness

Suddenly, I had what turned out to be a very good idea. I couldn't figure out if I wanted to watch a Christmas movie, some other movie or classic TV. And even that made me a little anxious, because my inner question was what's going to make me feeling better?

Turns out the answer was watching Pub Choir videos!

Right at this moment, I am singing along with To Love Somebody, by way of Barry Gibb, as sung by Pub Choir. And I've been singing along and gesturing with my arms for at least an hour.

I actually have a lot of their videos saved in a playlist I call Coherence. But I don't always remember it as a resource.

I was even standing in front of the TV, and singing along to The Winner Takes it All, while holding my bowl of soup. :)

Anyway, I can't promise to write in my journal every day but I intend to try and I hope to do so more often than not.

My Questions for You

What makes you feel better when you're having a bad day?

Do you think you'll give the 30-day divine dialogue challenge a try?

Just before finishing this post, I stopped to sing again. The Pub Choir mix ended and what showed up was Memory, sung by Barry Manilow.

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

]]><![CDATA[Saying Goodbye to the UBC, Summer Edition]]>Fri, 31 Jul 2026 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.thecomfortapothecary.com/blog/goodbye-ubc
I made it! I really wasn't sure I could. If you knew everything that was making my life the colorful wonder that it is, you'd be excited to see me here today, too, LOL! So let's get the kazoos and celebrate the end.

Was it a good month for you?

It always helps me to think things through when I write about them for this challenge. Talking in the comments section helps too.

Usually by the end, I've gotten clearer on something or solidified a new direction, or just enjoyed getting to talk about the topics I love.

I hope this month was like that for you, too.

I'm pledging to be back in October, but as Michael J. Fox says in the American President, all plans are soft until confirmed. ;)

See you next time!

love, Jeanine

]]><![CDATA[Do You Have Autumn Anxiety?]]>Thu, 30 Jul 2026 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.thecomfortapothecary.com/blog/autumn-anxiety
It takes me by surprise every year. A few weeks ago, I realized I was feeling better than I do during pollen season, so I thought I was on the brink of sliding into my good part of the year.

But in the past week or so, I noticed that I was reacting more to things that go wrong. Why am I getting more upset than usual?

I've asked myself that question several times, and noticed that I seem to have a lot more tension than I expect. And when I'm having a conversation when I am describing a problem, I can hear it in my voice. Why am I saying it like that?

Well, finally I actually saw the words autumn anxiety and I realized what all of these puzzling experiences have in common. I think it catches me off guard because it starts before autumn.

Let's talk about it in case you're experiencing these changes, too.

What is Autumn Anxiety?

Though there is no official diagnosis (yet), there is a type of anxiety that mental health professionals have reported seeing more often, in the past several years, and that's a kind of anxiety that begins around the fall season.

Ginny Scully is the Wales therapist who named it Autumn Anxiety, because she was seeing countless patients who were experiencing heightened anxiety symptoms between the end of summer and beginning of fall. It's said to be very closely linked to seasonal affective disorder (SAD), but it's more about anxiety, and less about depression.

Autumn Anxiety Symptoms

If you're experiencing autumn anxiety, here are some of the symptoms others report and that you might be experiencing...

feeling more tired and lethargic
wanting to be alone, isolating
losing interest in your favorite activities
an increase in agitation and irritability
panic attack symptoms
difficulty concentrating
worrying excessively

Are you experiencing any of these symptoms?

The ones I notice most in myself are a lot more agitation and irritability.

But I also can relate to worrying, and I read somewhere that that can lead to overreacting, where something small goes wrong and you begin to expect more severe consequences than would be likely. I experienced that just the other day and was so stressed about it, that I ended up having chest pain.

What to Do if You Think You
Might Be Experiencing
Autumn Anxiety

After what happened the other night, I'm glad to know that I can now say that that was an autumn anxiety reaction. And my nervous system must already have been under more stress than I realized.

And now that I can keep that in mind, it's a reminder not to make important decisions or assume the worst when I'm already feeling more anxious than usual.

If you think autumn anxiety might be affecting you, try asking yourself a few simple questions:

(1) Am I reacting to this situation, or is my nervous system already running on high alert?

(2) Have I been more tense or irritable over the past week?

(3) Have I noticed changes in my energy, mood, or sleep?

(4) Is it possible that this season is making everything feel a little heavier than it really is?

Sometimes simply recognizing the pattern takes away some of its power.

Instead of thinking everything is falling apart, you can remind yourself that sometimes you feel that way around this time of year. And tell yourself that that's probably what's creating the reaction you’re experiencing.

That shift alone can make it easier to take a deep breath, slow down, and give yourself a little more grace until you're feeling better.

Using Hygge for Autumn Anxiety

Hygge (hyeu-guh) can be hard to pronounce
& also, is not so easy to explain...

In brief, hygge is about taking time away from the daily rush to be together with people you care about - or even by yourself - to relax and enjoy life's quieter pleasures. - Denmark.dk

Although hygge is not a formally recognized treatment for anxiety or other mental health conditions, but many of the things it encourages may help you feel more supported if you're having a difficult time.

So what can be gained from dedicating yourself to enjoying the simple pleasures of life, all through the autumn season? Well! A lot, apparently...

It's been said to reduce the symptoms we'd say are related to depression and other mental health disorders. We might expect that it also relieves stress.

And it also can make you feel better, and make it easier to create and sustain a calm, peaceful mood. It can help you practice mindfulness, too, which means you'll catch it sooner, if your mood starts to go south.

That's a big deal for me, because one of my problems is that it creeps up on me, and another is that it doesn't label itself and it often shows up in disguise. So I've been calling myself cranky & grumpy lately, when I now realize it was this damn thing (LOL).

But one of the most important things hygge can do is self-care disguised as pleasure (like a gooey broccoli casserole) with a side of self-compassion.

Want to know where and how to sign up for hygge? :)

I have some ideas...

(1) Lower the lights and light some candles.

(2) Read a book while you're on the couch or in your comfy chair. Bring your Linus blanket.

(3) Sleep in late & cuddle in bed. Isn't the blanket the best thing ever when you think you should probably get up, but you just don't feel like it?

(4) Have a cup of tea, coffee, or cocoa. Or one of those fall drinks - pumpkin whatever. Or a glass of sweet tea, if it's still too hot for heat.

(5) Surround yourself with soft blankets and throw pillows.

(6) Unplug your devices and stay the hell off social media. Did I say that out loud?

(7) Use your fireplace when evenings get colder.

Loving Autumn
but not the Anxiety

For me, autumn will probably always be my favorite season, second only to the big one - Christmas. I love the cooler weather, the candles, the blankets, the apple cinnamon tea, and everything cozy.

But I've learned that I can't wait until I feel like taking cozy care of myself.

And even with hygge or other cozy practices, I've surprised myself with not feeling like it despite it being something I normally love.

'Cause that evil autumn anxiety is a big, fat liar.

Still, if autumn tends to make me more anxious, then autumn is exactly when I need more comfort, more rest, and a little more compassion for myself.

If you, too, have been wondering why everything suddenly feels a bit harder, maybe you're not imagining it. Maybe your nervous system needs a little more care this time of year.

Note - if your anxiety or seasonal mood changes are intense, have lasted for weeks, or have begun interfering with your daily life, it might be good to talk to a therapist or healthcare provider.

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

]]><![CDATA[Which Element Are You? Take the Four Elements Personality Quiz]]>Tue, 28 Jul 2026 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.thecomfortapothecary.com/blog/take-four-elements-quiz
In this post and this one, I talked about the difficulties I had with the original quiz I had made. Well, my second attempt is finally complete! Read on to see what I learned and how you can take the quiz, yourself.

Revising the Four Elements Quiz

Whew! I worked hours and hours and hours on revising this quiz.

I had an understanding of the elements that kept bumping up against the way the quiz was written.

Every time Earth came up, I'd say, "No...this is Water." Then I'd second-guess myself because ChatGPT kept insisting it belonged to Earth.

So I found myself trusting the description in front of me more than the inner knowing I'd had for years.

Eventually I went digging through old notes I'd written two decades ago, and there it was. The Water I'd remembered all along.

My Four Elements Quiz Results

So I took the quiz again and there was a surprise!

Do you remember that one reason I wanted to rework the quiz was that I had a primary element (Water, at the time) but felt called to the result for Spirit? Well, we created the quiz and I decided to exclude Spirit and focus instead on the western understanding of the 4 elements, not the five.

And I had suspected that I would eventually find out that I was Air, because it was close to what we had written for Spirit. But that's not what happened.

My primary element is still - WATER! And it's my secondary that is Air

Which element feels like home? Which one takes over when you’re afraid? Which one have you mistaken for a need because it is your oldest coping strategy? Which one comforts you? Which one challenges you? And which one feels like the woman you are becoming? - ChatGPT

The Water & Air Pairing

Water and Air feel like they are who I am becoming.

The way I was living was strengthening my Air so much that I assumed it was my primary element.

But now, I need to think more in terms of how my Air can support my Water. And how Water expresses itself through my Air.

Air is wonderful at finding the path. Left to itself, though, it would walk me right past home in pursuit of one more answer. Or finishing one more thing.

Water is the one that takes my hand and says, "Let's stop here for a while," and brings me tea, and starts the movie.

The Takeaway

Sometimes we don't lose ourselves because we've changed. We lose ourselves because the way we've been living no longer reflects who we're becoming.

And it's my hope that when you take the quiz, you will not only discover who you are, but what you need and how to give that to yourself.

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

]]><![CDATA[The Mini Me Before Future Me]]>Thu, 23 Jul 2026 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.thecomfortapothecary.com/blog/mini-me-before-future-me
Years ago, I had a healing practice.

My first clients were assigned to me (and other coaches) as Healing Codes clients. I taught them how to do the codes and how to recognize a healing response and I got them started on their journey.

But sometimes they chose to continue working with me and pay for distant healing sessions over the phone. But during those sessions, I didn’t only do the Codes...

Mini Me

During my distant healing sessions, I would put the phone down and imagine the person sitting in front of me.

Sometimes I added a crystal. Sometimes an essential oil blend. Sometimes I used an elemental healing practice I had created myself.

Or I might use a crystal wand to clear their energy field. I sometimes spoke words of healing or affirmation into their energy field. If I had a vision of an inner child, I would offer healing and talk to her.

One client told me she would begin feeling my energy before we ever got on the phone, and she would already start feeling better. Another brought me dreams, and those dreams helped us get to the heart of beliefs and distortions we might not otherwise have found.

My clients seemed to heal faster when I was able to use whatever they needed at the time.

Even more than the healing practice, I miss the woman who had it.

Her life was far from perfect. But she had a path.
She had a healer website and even found a couple of clients through it.

But more importantly, she was learning how to carve cozy good days out of an imperfect life. And she knew where she was going.

Then my mother died.

When I eventually moved out of that apartment, it felt as though I left that version of myself behind.

And she never came back.

Since then, I have had to relearn things I once knew. Rebuild things I once had. Try to find my way back to a path I used to be able to see clearly.

You were imagining the medicine woman at the bookcase as a future self: deeply resourced, able to recognize what someone needs, able to draw from many forms of medicine rather than one system. And then you remembered more vividly that your old healing practice already contained a smaller, earlier version of that exact way of working.
- ChatGPT

Future Me

Lately, I’ve been asking myself what kind of life I want to create and who my future self might be.

But just as I've been saying - that the future version of me I am becoming is not entirely new. Neither is the life I want. My mini me lived quite a bit of it before.

So what I want to do is reconnect with the version of me that I left behind and discover what she knows now. But I also want to remember the good things about the way I lived my life back then. Maybe that will make it easier to create the upgraded version I want to create now.

Do you have a time in your life like that, and a version of yourself that you miss?

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

]]><![CDATA[I Already Know My Future Self]]>Tue, 21 Jul 2026 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.thecomfortapothecary.com/blog/my-future-self
I think I met my future self more than thirty years ago.

It was sometime in the early 1990s, I think. I had an appointment with a woman who sat behind a desk, and if I remember correctly, she handed me a bag filled with things she had chosen for me.

I don’t remember what was in the bag. But for some reason, I never forgot the woman.

And for over 30 years, I’ve had a similar image in my mind of sitting with a client, listening to what she was going through, and then walking over to a bookcase filled with jars and containers and choosing exactly what she needed.

I never knew quite what was in the jars.

But now, more than 30 years later, I'm beginning to figure that out.

I had spent more than thirty years trying to learn enough to become her.

One more book. One more training. One more certification. One more system created by someone who knew more than I did.

But every system felt incomplete.

And now I’m wondering if that was because I was trying to find someone else’s version of the woman I had already seen.

You have no idea how long I've been working on becoming my future self. And I can't believe I already know her.

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

]]><![CDATA[Wordless Wednesday: Coming Back to Yourself]]>Wed, 15 Jul 2026 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.thecomfortapothecary.com/blog/wordless-wed-back-to-self
Have you ever felt like you lost access to a part of yourself or a felt experience of who you thought you were?

Well, I have had that experience several times and just recently was lamenting the sense of I already healed that or I already was that person, but now it's gone. And then I heard an internal fairy godmother voice say, "oh?"

And I tried calling that version of myself back. When I did, I felt the shift.

Try it yourself, with any part of you that you think you've lost, and see what happens.

Love you guys!

Jeanine

]]><![CDATA[Behind the Scenes: Making a Quiz]]>Tue, 14 Jul 2026 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.thecomfortapothecary.com/blog/making-a-quiz

Behind the Scenes

Last week, I mentioned that I'd created a quiz about the five elements and shared my surprising results. A couple of you wanted to take it, so I thought I'd have it ready by now.

But then I tried to rewrite and revise it.

I decided to recruit ChatGPT because I wanted a quiz that would make space for the results I got from the old quiz. I didn't just want the quiz to identify someone's strongest element. I also wanted it to reveal their secondary influence and the element they feel most called to develop.

ChatGPT is a good brainstormer and sounding board. Plus, it can be counted on to give me bad ideas to react to, which then inspires better ones from me. 🤣

I thought each question would take about five minutes. Instead, one afternoon I spent two solid hours writing just seven questions. By the end, I was ready to hand the whole project over to ChatGPT while I wandered off in search of tea and a snack.

Listening for Voices &
Building a Foundation

The hardest part has been making each element sound like its own person.

At first, we were writing descriptions. Now we're listening for their voices.

So instead of writing things like, "This person likes comfort," I'm trying to hear what she'd actually say.
Like "this is going to require a blanket and some ice cream."

But there's more. The quiz is only the beginning. It will end up being the foundation for journals, an AI tool that would give them personalized journal prompts based on their 3 results, and maybe other things.

So instead of rushing it out this week, I'm letting it take the time it needs.

Give you a pile of possibilities—even your own—and you have an uncanny instinct for hearing the one that sounds alive. - nice compliment from ChatGPT

A Friendly Argument

ChatGPT and I don't completely agree about Water. So I kept wanting to give choices to Water that ChatGPT says belongs to Earth.

I learned about the elements through astrology, Chinese medicine, Fashion Feng Shui, and other traditions, and they don't all describe them the same way. So now I'm spending a little time comparing them before I decide what feels most true for this quiz.

But here's the thing! I came into this project pretty sure that I was Water, but now I'm not sure.

Stay tuned.

Have you ever explored the different elements and identified with one or more of them?

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

]]>