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"Wheat Field", Jed Appelrouth
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Being Grateful Has Changed My Life
I really believe that being grateful is the key to happiness and contentment. I try to make it a practice to get up every day and start saying, "Thank You" to my Creator for all that I have and all that I am. As soon as my feet hit the floor I start thanking my Higher Power for another day, for my daughter and grandson, for my health, my home and anything for which I can be thankful.
This really helps me to start the day in a positive mood with a thankful outlook. Then, throughout the day, whenever I experience something positive, I say, "Thank You"! This makes me feel uplifted and content. It is a wonderful feeling.
I am truly thankful for our Tribe, our Star Community. During the last Star Workshop I was so grateful for the way we all pulled together as a team to make Star a success and wonderfully healing for all our participants. It feels like the loving, supportive family that I never had. I feel so blessed and thankful for leading Star and doing this healing work. I am very thankful for the true miracles I see take place at Star. I am grateful Star came back to all of us and to Barbara and the Ranch. I feel a Divine Presence when at the Ranch doing Star and I feel so grateful for that.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "in ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich."
I am constantly amazed at how much I have to be grateful for: my life, who I am, my compassion and empathy, my brain and body and my abilities. Also being born in this country and having opportunities and advantages that so many people in the world do not have. So much more; the list goes on and on.
So, some things you can do to feel more gratitude in your life and become more content and happy:
1. Keep a Gratitude Journal.
Write down at least 5 things you are grateful for every day.
2. Breathe.
Breathe in to a count of 4; hold it; and then release it. This helps you to be present and to be calm and centered.
3. Bring to mind someone you are grateful for in your life.
4. Reflect on something you have learned during the day.
5. Perform an act of kindness during the day.
6. Light a candle and sit quietly and allow the peace to enter your heart.
7. Make a decision to see challenges as opportunities during the day.
8. Notice your hands and think of all they do for you.
9. Reach out to someone you know is going through a difficult time.
There are many ways to feel gratitude. Take the time to feel them today. It will enrich your life and make life more meaningful and enjoyable.
Gratefully yours,
Candace Rosen
Clinical Director, STAR Foundation
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Registration special!!
As of January 1st, 2017 STAR tuition will increase to $4295.00. Register for any 2017 retreat by December 31st, 2016 to receive the 2016 tuition rate.
To hold your registration a deposit of $800 is required. Call the STAR office at 520.398.3105 or email scastro@starfound.org to register. More information is always available on our website at www.starfound.org.
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"Big Boy Jack", Kathy Reid
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Yesterday we completed a Star group. I am always inspired and amazed at the participants who find their way to Star. We do not have a huge marketing campaign! They come from all over finding out about Star in many ways, most frequently now via the internet. Working with our incredible staff, miracles happen. Really!
Today dawned cloudy with a touch of rain matching the mood I always feel when everyone has left. Magic and I go around checking things out on the ranch. I feel blessed to be working with such amazing individuals, staff, and participants. Each one inspires me and fills me with gratitude for the opportunity to share in their transformational experiences.
Next is Thanksgiving, which continues my feelings of gratitude. May this holiday bring you blessings.
With thankfulness in my heart to you,
Love Barbara
Founder STAR Foundation, President STAR Board of Directors
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"Grateful for Barbara", Kathy Reid
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Gratitude
I used to get angry when someone would say to me, “just think of what you are grateful for and you’ll feel better.” They didn’t get it. “If I could feel grateful, I would,” was my response. In my mind, the problem was that I couldn’t feel grateful. I couldn’t feel good. If I could I would. I didn’t realize that I was locked into my negative, fear-based reality. The chemical factory in my brain got damaged very early. Among other things, I began to shut down my breathing and consequently my energy and aliveness (in order to survive). The neural pathways for feeling good (including gratitude) began to weaken from lack of use. My defenses and my reality reflected that. So for me, “being grateful” was in the same class as “just get over it.” I would if I could. Instead, unsuccessfully trying to feel gratitude was just another thing to feel bad about.
On the other hand, there were times when I did feel grateful—extremely grateful. Those were the moments when the switch went on for some unknown reason and I felt completely alive and connected to life. Everything felt right. Everything made sense and it was all okay. Those moments were rare and usually instantaneous, but those were the moments when I felt grateful. However, there was nothing I could do that would make those moments happen. They came out of the blue.
Although it has taken a long time, my relationship with gratitude has changed and is still changing. Beginning with STAR, I have become much more in touch with my feelings, accepting of myself, and friendly with myself. I’m no longer encapsulated in negativity, unable to see/feel anything else. This has allowed me to feel grateful much more than in the past. Now, I feel grateful for my wife, my dog, my friends, STAR, being alive, blue sky, the feel of the air on my skin, and many other things. The key, for me, was going to STAR and finally feeling safe enough to begin to feel my feelings. Once I began to do that, there was more space for me and I could feel good sometimes. Reconnecting with my feelings and heart allowed me to be easier with my self, treat myself better, let people in more, and let good feeling in more. It gave me more of a sense of agency, as opposed to feeling stuck and powerless. Gratitude became much more accessible. I am grateful for that.
Kenny Ball
STAR Facilitator
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Individual Intensive Retreats Offered
Barbara Findeisen, PhD and Candace Rosen, L.C.S.W., Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, are pleased to offer the opportunity for individuals and couples to do healing work at Kenyon Ranch. www.kenyonranch.com
These retreats address issues that a person might be experiencing by developing personalized focused curriculum that allows work in the areas of; healing from traumatic experiences, birth and bonding, relationship challenges, attachment issues, grief, loss, and inner child work.
Please email Barbara (bfscrabble@me.com) or Candace (crosen8@cox.net) for further information.
You can also call Candace at: 602.618.3956
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"Sunflower", Jed Appelrouth
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Authors: Melinda Smith, M.A. and Jeanne Segal, Ph.D.
"Expressing thanks may be one of the simplest ways to feel better.
The Thanksgiving holiday began, as the name implies, when the colonists gave thanks for their survival and for a good harvest. So perhaps November is a good time to review the mental health benefits of gratitude — and to consider some advice about how to cultivate this state of mind.
The word gratitude is derived from the Latin word gratia, which means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness (depending on the context). In some ways gratitude encompasses all of these meanings. Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives. In the process, people usually recognize that the source of that goodness lies at least partially outside themselves. As a result, gratitude also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals — whether to other people, nature, or a higher power.
In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.
People feel and express gratitude in multiple ways. They can apply it to the past (retrieving positive memories and being thankful for elements of childhood or past blessings), the present (not taking good fortune for granted as it comes), and the future (maintaining a hopeful and optimistic attitude). Regardless of the inherent or current level of someone’s gratitude, it’s a quality that individuals can successfully cultivate further."
You can read the rest of this article and other excellent posts on the STAR website blog by clicking here.
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"Tubac Harvest, Kathy Reid
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The STAR Foundation's mission is to provide nurturing intensives where adults experience empowerment and inspiration, and are given tools to transform their lives.
Donate here: www.starfound.org/donations or mail a check to STAR, PO Box 8164, Tumacacori, AZ 85640, or calling us at 520.398.3105.
STAR Foundation is tax-exempt under 501(c) (3) of the I.R.S. Code EIN 77-0009281.
The STAR Retreat stands alone among personal growth workshops with its 1-to-2 staff to participant ratio. Its remarkably large, diverse, and knowledgeable staff provide you, as a participant, a safe, unparalleled level of personalized attention creating an extremely individualized and tailored experience. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter by visiting the links below.
Photos copyright and courtesy Kathy Reid & Jed Appelrouth
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