Our Soul Oasis Magazine

Mark Twain nailed the concept of kindness in one sentence: Kindness is the only language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see. 20 years ago, sifting through a small town library in northwest Iowa, I stumbled upon a book of quotes. At the time I was editor of the weekly newspaper and was always looking for inspiration to pass along to the community. Little did I know that this small book of quotes was going to impact me two full decades later. In one of the sections of the quote book was a particular area that I found myself reading repeatedly. It was the section on kindness. At that time, I was going through some huge personal issues and I was struggling with how to remain open to possibility, keep my motivation high, and how to be a positive influence for my 6 old daughter. Three quotes from that book have stayed with me. “A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.” Steve Maraboli “The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intent

It’s perfectly normal to feel anxious or depressed occasionally, especially in response to life’s stressors. However, when these feelings become prolonged, disproportionate or apparent for no significant reason, they need to be addressed. Characterized by a constant overwhelming state of fear or worry, anxiety can be debilitating in its physical manifestations, too. The symptoms of depression may be similar with unrelenting feelings of sadness or despair. The exact cause is still unclear; however, changes in brain chemistry, genetic factors, and hormone function are all believed to play a role. Irrespective of the cause, mental illness requires and generally responds to professional treatment. Our understanding of mental illness has evolved over time, yet it still presents certain difficulties. Diagnostically speaking, depression and anxiety primarily affects the way an individual thinks and feels, and in most cases subsequently behaves; therefore we generally rely upon patients to

As we grow up there are a litany of skills we are taught in school, and, depending on our home life, another set of skills we are taught at home. Unlike banking or paying taxes or organizing bills, nothing in our lives as young adults forces us to learn this skill as a natural part of adulthood. In fact, we are generally unaware that it is important at all, even though our inability to do it disrupts our lives on a daily basis. This skill is the conscious processing of emotion. I grew up with a notion, maybe you did too, that people with emotional problems or addictions can't cope with life. When I was buried in panic and alcohol, my "inability to cope with life" was not an actionable thing to improve. I would ask "How can I cope with life better?" The answers were vague and unhelpful, "suck it up." From inside a broken brain and life, I had to figure out what it was that I couldn't cope with. It turned out that it was "feelings." Fe

I've heard it so many times, “I am not an artist or artsy at all.” Well, It is not all about drawing, painting and being an artist. Art Therapy embodies the creative and expressive side of our intuitive memories and life that helps us heal through expression and personal development through different modalities including art, writing, music, and the written word, as well as journaling. Have you ever had that perfect song come on and you can relate? As if they are singing about you or directly to you? Through music; musicians sing about very familiar subjects, the harmonies are very accessible and understandable creating that connection. This is caused by emotional influence, and through the process of empathy and relating to the struggles or triumphs conveyed through a song, a message, a quote and even an image. Perhaps a memory or feeling caused by an occurrence that happened to you, or what someone has said to you, be it positive or negative. These are all types of artis

Being an empath comes with many gifts and many challenges. I have personally known what it means to be an empath since I was seven years old. It is now 40 years since my first awareness, and I have spent an entire lifetime studying, practicing, honing, and forming a relationship with the gifts and challenges. If you happen to know you are an empath, know this- I see you, I hear you, and I believe in you. Over the next few months, I will be sharing tools and grace-filled ways to experience and express your life without feeling like something is wrong with you. If you have never heard of empaths, or you only have a basic awareness of what it means, it is my goal to support you in getting to know, understand and trust yourself or your loved one, co-worker, or potential partner a little more. I feel it is so important to have compassion for others, and to learn to live with people who are different from us with loving kindness. The dictionary.com description of empath is as follows: “e