Blog Archives

Saying Goodbye to the UBC, Summer Edition

7/31/2026

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

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Do You Have Autumn Anxiety?

7/30/2026

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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

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Which Element Are You? Take the Four Elements Personality Quiz

7/28/2026

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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

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The Mini Me Before Future Me

7/23/2026

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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

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I Already Know My Future Self

7/21/2026

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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

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Wordless Wednesday: Coming Back to Yourself

7/15/2026

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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

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Behind the Scenes: Making a Quiz

7/14/2026

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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

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What if the Element You Are isn't the One You Need?

7/10/2026

4 Comments

Before I wrote my last post, I was already thinking about all things elemental and I created an elemental quiz.

I was curious about which element might help me most with some of the things I’m working on right now. So I created five possible results: Earth, Fire, Water, Air and Spirit.

And then, of course, I took my own quiz. And the results didn't surprise me. Not because I knew the quiz, but because it matched the way I see myself.

The quiz told me I needed more support from Water, but my secondary influence should be Air. But when I decided to re-read the results I had written, neither of those two made much of an impression.

It was the one for Spirit that grabbed me. I had not chosen one of the spirit answers, but its result was the one that spoke to me.

Could the element you are be different from the element you need?

Why the "Wrong" Result
Called to Me

Let's look at the timeline for all of this exploration. You'll see why in a minute.

So, I created the quiz and took it and was surprised by what happened with the results.

Then a few days went by, and I wrote about AI, spiritual teachers and truth. This weekend, I attended what I like to think of as the gatekeeper's workshop (LOL) and wrote my post about not trusting our inner knowing.

When I decided to write this post, I went back to look at the quiz, just to remind myself about what each result said and so on. Wait 'til you see what I found.

Here's the result for Spirit...

Are you thinking you need one more book, one more podcast, or one more certification? What you may need, instead, is a deeper connection to the inner knowing you already have.

What??? Cue the ROFL emoji! The quiz result knew what I needed to write about and explore before I did.

Wrong Result or Wrong Question?

Now I'm wondering if I asked the wrong question. OR if I need more than one answer. Because maybe there are several different questions...

Which element feels most like me?
Which one do I reach for when life gets hard?
Which one comforts me?
Which one am I missing?
Which one might help me change?
Which one is calling to the future self I’m becoming?

Now, normally, this is where I would go looking for someone who knows more than I do. I’d find a book. A teacher. A training. Maybe another quiz.

But...when I asked myself those questions, my brain immediately handed me answers to almost every one of them. The only ones I'm not sure about are the last two.

So instead of looking elsewhere, what if I just stay with the questions for a while?

And see what else comes to me, in the quiet.

This wasn't the way I intended the quiz to work. But it looks like it worked the way that I needed.

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

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Wordless Wednesday: It's Elemental, My Dear

7/8/2026

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Which element calls to you?

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Have We Given Away Our Own Inner Knowing?

7/7/2026

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Last week, I wrote about how to know what's true when you listen to spiritual teachers or AI videos or other sources of information who present their ideas with conviction. And I'm still thinking about that question. Stay with me and I'll tell you why.

She Said, "You're not Really Helping People!"

Over the weekend, I attended the first 3-hour training of a free 3-day workshop that was offering a lengthy paid training that would teach everything in more detail. And the title of this part of my post is not an exact quote, but I felt like her basic message Friday night.

What I walked away with was this challenge, said over and over, in similar words to this - "so you've learned this technique or you've got this certification? Well, if this is the thing, why are you and your clients still triggered by your traumas?" And she told us, the healers, the coaches, the practitioners, what we needed to master for ourselves before ever working with future clients and offered her own training, which would focus on us first, and then show us how to finally help others.

Now, I will return to this experience in a future post, but I got me thinking about the authority we hand over to experts and gatekeepers who suggest that only they know what we really need.

I've Been Doing this for Years

About 20 years ago, I read a wonderful book that had a quiz in it. I love quizzes! And it was about finding your primary element and then using that as a guide for decorating your home.

And she had a training I couldn't afford that would give you the ability to help others decorate spiritually, using the elements. I mourned the loss of that possibility, used what I learned from the book in my own home and moved on.

At the time I had my own healing practice, working with clients at a distance, teaching them a self-healing technique that had changed my life and others. But I was forever trying other healing techniques just because they appealed to me.

So, she shrugs, I created my own elemental healing practice, just for myself, but occasionally would use it with clients, too, when they hired me to do distant healing.

But I would never have dared to market this healing technique. Why? Because I made it up.

No one had trained me. I didn't have a certification.

So it didn't feel legitimate. There wasn't an expert telling me I was allowed to do it.

Recently, I learned about a new elemental system and immediately wanted to learn it! And she offers training for facilitators. But I can't afford it.

So twenty years later, here I am again, catching myself in the act.

Not trusting what I learned on my own. Wishing I could afford a credential that would make me feel legitimate.

Learning from someone deepens our knowing. But does it also teach us to distrust what we know until someone else validates it?

Here's What's Coming

I want to look at the places where we hand over our own knowing.

To experts. Healers. Teachers. Spiritual leaders. Charts. Quizzes. Books. And yes, sometimes ChatGPT.

We ask them to tell us what’s happening in our bodies. What we need to heal. Which path to take. Which essential oil to use. What our symptoms mean. Who we are.

Over the next few weeks, I want to explore what can happen when we stop looking outside ourselves for every answer and begin to discover what we already know.

Not sure where this is going yet. But I've been waiting twenty years to find out.

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

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<<Previous

Saying Goodbye to the UBC, Summer Edition

Do You Have Autumn Anxiety?

What is Autumn Anxiety?

Autumn Anxiety Symptoms

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

Using Hygge for Autumn Anxiety

Loving Autumn
but not the Anxiety

Which Element Are You? Take the Four Elements Personality Quiz

Revising the Four Elements Quiz

My Four Elements Quiz Results

The Water & Air Pairing

The Takeaway

The Mini Me Before Future Me

Mini Me

Future Me

I Already Know My Future Self

Wordless Wednesday: Coming Back to Yourself

Behind the Scenes: Making a Quiz

Behind the Scenes

Listening for Voices &
Building a Foundation

A Friendly Argument

What if the Element You Are isn't the One You Need?

Why the "Wrong" Result
Called to Me

Wrong Result or Wrong Question?

Wordless Wednesday: It's Elemental, My Dear

Have We Given Away Our Own Inner Knowing?

She Said, "You're not Really Helping People!"

I've Been Doing this for Years

Here's What's Coming

Hi, I'm Jeanine

Archives

Categories

What is Autumn Anxiety?

Autumn Anxiety Symptoms

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

Using Hygge for Autumn Anxiety

Loving Autumn ​but not the Anxiety

Revising the Four Elements Quiz

My Four Elements Quiz Results

​The Water & Air Pairing

The Takeaway

Mini Me

Future Me

Behind the Scenes

Listening for Voices &​Building a Foundation

A Friendly Argument

Why the "Wrong" Result ​Called to Me

Wrong Result or Wrong Question?

She Said, "You're not Really Helping People!"

I've Been Doing this for Years

Here's What's Coming

Hi, I'm Jeanine

Archives

Categories

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

Loving Autumn
but not the Anxiety

The Water & Air Pairing

Listening for Voices &
Building a Foundation

Why the "Wrong" Result
Called to Me