Company: Hanes

Style Name: Women’s ComfortSoft® Cotton Stretch Lace Bikini 3-Pack

Highlights: Comfortable and health conscious with a touch of sexy, Made of 95% cotton (the healthiest fabric for panties; it allows the area to breathe), Lace is on top of cotton to prevent itching, Multiple colors available, Hanes provides a no ride up comfort guarantee on these panties

Potential Setbacks: Designed to fit snug to the body (5% spandex) – may not be optimal for some body types, No coordinating bras, More lace could be added for a sexier look

The concept of “Everything Happens for a Reason” can be an interesting belief to witness unfold as it applies to our own life experiences.

It often feels that even if we believe this concept and apply it to our own life experiences, it is only up to a certain point. I can relate as I have had experiences where I looked at this concept in this way. It was believable as it applied to some of the trauma I experienced, but there was one particular life experience I did not feel I could apply it to. The thing is, I was having a hard time forgiving myself. Therefore, it was hard to see for what possible positive reason this life experience occurred.

I had witnessed many people sharing life stories of overcoming traumatic experiences similar to some of my other experiences and resonated with them – it was easy to make sense of those particular life experiences and believe that they happened for a reason. But in the middle of my several year long path of healing, I let my energy get the best of me and was committed to a mental hospital. Admittedly, and for a long time, this was an extremely embarrassing life experience for me and I was not willing to share the story. I could not find a story outside myself to validate that my story was safe to share.

Recently, I was able to finally forgive myself for the experience. I now know that I did the best I could with my energy for where I was at in the healing process of my life the day I was committed and if I knew what I knew now, it would have never occurred. I can now see how this life experience taught me the importance of staying grounded with my energy. I see the blessing that I am and all I have learned about energy from the life experiences that I have had the opportunity to experience. So yes, I believe “EVERYTHING Happens for a Reason”! I decided for myself that it was safe to share this story, too.

When I first started my path of healing nearly eight years ago, my energy was completely shut down. I had enough to keep me alive, but my energy was at a low vibration. I lived from my mind a majority of the time (with a limited connection to my body) and was attracting dark experiences into my life with the intention of helping me learn to reconnect. Eventually, a year at a time and through all sorts of energy healing, I began to wake up. My energy became lighter and lighter and I was feeling better and better.

About four years ago, I was feeling extra good and confident with my results; I felt an influx of energy and I took it for a ride. Without getting into all the details (I have tons of stories!), it was the easiest four days of my life until I was drugged at the hospital. I had an out-of-body experience. I felt my spirit without limitations; I had lost my mind, was high on my energy, and was no longer grounded. I felt at one with everything and could literally do yoga poses with full flexibility that I could not do for you now.

While I do not recommend the experience, I believe it is possible to have an easy life and stay grounded; I feel this energy experience was meant to be a part of my path of learning in life. It happened after I had already learned about energy, so while it was still traumatic at the time, I was able to deal with it afterwards in a way that worked for me and I learned from the experience. I took medicine while inside to get out faster, but once I was released I stopped taking it and went back to my energetic healing to continue to learn about being connected to my energy. Looking back, what I learned from that experience is that up until the point I was committed, I had increased my capacity to connect with my energy, but I had not yet learned how to be connected to my energy and stay grounded at the same time. Since, I found the support to help me learn the very important life skill of staying grounded with my energy.

My life experiences have blessed me with a vast perception of reality and the capacity to sit in the perspective of many people. I have been there. I understand, and I have turned out better than I could have ever dreamed of. What I have experienced first-hand and now believe is that at the core of all human experience is energy. It is the handling and the learning how to handle this energy that makes the difference. My life experiences have required me to learn how to handle this energy and awaken my potential.

Now that I am more grounded than I have ever been in my life, I can see reasons for ALL my traumatic life experiences and where I get my vast perception of reality when it comes to being connected to energy. I have experienced being at a very low energy vibration where I lived in limited connection to my body, I have experienced an out-of-body experience where I was at one with my energy but not grounded, and I am now grounded enough in my life to experience my energy, my body, and my mind all at once. It feels good to be alive!

Company: Reef

Style Name: Stargazer and Stargazer Luxe

Highlights: Comfortable AND Elegant, Original sparkly design, Can be dressed up or down, Multiple colors and patterns available, Logo is hidden when flip flops are on feet

Potential Setbacks: No matter how cute and comfortable, they are still flip-flops and are not going to stay on your feet if you are at a theme park!

We live in an interesting time. Anything that cannot be directly proven by science is often considered crazy or some sort of scientific explanation is used to explain that which we cannot fully explain. Quick fixes and explanations often bring us a false and temporary sense of peace.

What if we could admit there were things that are not meant to be explained by the literal mind immediately but could instead be explained by the human experience? The latter is the option I chose when it came to some symptoms I’ve experienced, and thank goodness I did, because my life will never be the same because of it.

In the past, I have been diagnosed on more than one occasion as being bipolar, which would make sense to the literal mind. I definitely experienced highs and lows, but what I never could fully accept or believe in is that I was told I needed to take meds, that there was something wrong with me, and that I could not recover. It has been years since the last time I was told this, but now that I am on the other side of it all, I am ready to share my version of the story. If I had not had enough strength to believe in myself and know that I was gifted rather than bipolar, I would not be where I am today.

There were plenty of moments when I could have made another choice, but I continued to have faith. I began to see progress through my own experience of the lows not being as low and the highs not being as high to keep me going. Now I flow through the lows and the highs, accepting both, and realizing neither will last forever. It is all a part of life and the extremes are over, because I have learned the importance of staying grounded.

The way I see it, I had an extreme case of energy mismanagement. To put it in perspective, I believe we all have a life force energy within us, it is part of our birthright. Some of us are born into a set of experiences where we are taught fairly well how to deal with the energy from the start. Often times not even giving it a name as it comes so naturally. I was born into a set of experiences that did not honor this aspect of the human experience. There was a “right” way to live, and being natural was not part of the conversation. Unconsciously, I did everything I could to hide this aspect of myself for fear of disapproval. It takes a lot of energy to fight the force of nature. So, naturally, I would have some interesting symptoms – one of which being my inability to flow with life.

Every time I would have a “feeling” about something, an intuition about something, I would suppress it, and often choose instead what my literal mind would say to do. Doing this year after year, it built up and my whole body and spirit got so off kilter that I did not even know how to act for myself and I definitely did not believe in myself.  When something good would happen to me and I got excited,  I would ride the excitement as though I would never have a good moment ever again in my life. If I got down, I would never believe I could get up again, so the downs would last much longer than necessary.

I believe that going with the flow can be a learned skill, although it takes a lot of practice! I have learned to stay grounded with my energy and realize that the ebbs and flows are a part of life, neither lasting forever. I have learned to be at peace with the life force energy within me and most importantly, how to stay grounded.

My gift you might ask? I have had the fortunate experience of learning how, starting from scratch and as an adult, to be in touch with my life force energy. It has given me an extreme level of sensitivity to life and an ability to comprehend it with my literal mind, too. Trust me, when I first started learning about going with the flow, I had no faith in it and it took seeing significant results to finally believe. Through the experiences of trial and error and paying attention to what was going around me, I have gained faith and I feel like a walking miracle every day.

Company: Alo Clothing

Style Name: Asymmetrical Jacket

Highlights: Fashionable AND Functional, Unique off center zip front closure and draped collar, Can be dressed up or down, Multiple colors available, 95% organic cotton, Front pockets

Potential Setbacks: Designed to fit snug to the body (5% spandex) – may not be optimal for some body types, Fades with washing

“Just deal with it” is not in my vocabulary. It is quite often that I come up with ideas of what I want, whether it is clothing, curtains or a beauty product. When I can’t find what I have pictured at one store, I keep looking. And when after searching stores and the internet and I still haven’t found what I want, I explore the next option – creating my own product.

This is exactly what I did when I could not find a product to address my extremely dry and sensitive skin. From a young age, I would slather on bottle after bottle of lotion or moisturizer to combat chalky, dry skin and soften elbows, knees, hands and feet. It worked, but during the summer months especially, the lotion felt heavy on my skin and clogged my pores, making me sweat and feel greasy.

Through experimentation and research, I came up with the following recipe and variations for a homemade sugar body scrub. No matter which combination I use, my skin feels wonderfully moisturized and silky smooth without the need for heavy lotion or creams. Using the homemade sugar scrub has lessened skin irritation from shaving, heat rash and acne. It has really been a miracle for my skin.

1 cup cane sugar
2 tablespoons ground sea salt
¼ cup olive oil (or other cold pressed oil)
1 tsp. honey
5-7 drops essential oil of choice – some of my favorites are: a jasmine blend, peppermint or eucalyptus. I have also used Vanilla extract + orange oil, this combination smells just like orange sherbet ice cream!

It’s easy! I simply pour sugar into a bowl, add salt, olive oil, honey and essential oil. Next I combine with a fork until ingredients are mixed and sugar is saturated throughout. Afterwards I transfer the mixture to a plastic container with a lid. (Sugar scrub will keep 1-2 weeks sealed, at room temperature.) If the mixture is too oily, I just add more sugar and vice versa until I have found the perfect formula for my custom, homemade sugar scrub.

I have also substituted ¼ cup ground coffee beans (swapped with ¼ cup sugar) to make an anti-cellulite homemade sugar body scrub. Coffee behaves as a stimulant and is known to detoxify and tighten the skin, minimizing cellulite in problem areas.

I use my sugar body scrub after washing in the shower and while my skin is still moist. I use the sugar scrub from face to toes and exfoliate by scrubbing in a circular motion with medium intensity. Once I am finished, I rinse off the sugar body scrub with warm water to leave my skin silky smooth.

Company: Po Campo

Style Name: Streeterville Clutch

Highlights: Fashionable AND Functional, Adjustable clips for attachment to strollers, bikes, etc., Multiple color choices, Water/fade resistant fabrics, Detachable matching coin pouch, Convenient outer pocket

Potential Setbacks: One hand/arm has to be used for clutch once clips are detached from stroller, bike, etc. (no shoulder strap)

A friend reached out to me recently wondering if when I use the word “trauma” when I write, if I actually mean abuse. While many people could perceive what I have experienced in my past as abuse, I much prefer to call it trauma. To me, it feels more empowering.

Don’t get me wrong, there was a time in my past when I would have referred to what I experienced as abuse. I felt a lot of shame, and I felt tainted – as if there were something wrong with me. At that time, I felt the need to blame someone for the way my life was going. I was miserable, and I thought that everything in my past was the cause of it. I often thought “If only none of it had happened to me, then I would feel OK. If none of it happened, I would be normal.” Calling it abuse was just a way out for me. It was much easier to place the blame for my misery and the responsibility of my life on the people who “abused” me. However, I eventually came to the realization that looking at my life in this way was disempowering.

Now that I have a new perspective, calling it trauma, for me, is much more fitting. It feels more like a record of facts than something to be ashamed of. In those moments in time, I lacked confidence and did not have the ability to deal with certain situations. I believe the same was probably also the case for the so-called “abusers”. Who has the right to say what makes either one of us to blame? If I had the confidence at the time, the situation would not have happened, I would have known how to walk away. This perspective makes it feel like something that, while no one wants it to, happened and is resolvable. I am not tainted, and there is nothing to be ashamed about. I merely did not have the skills to deal with certain situations – situations that I now know can be healed and new skills can be learned.

I believe that no matter whether trauma is physical, sexual, emotional or mental, it can all be dealt with. For example, if I had broken my arm, I would have gone to the doctor and they would have put a cast on it to support my arm until it healed. I might have had a scar,  it might have taken some time to heal, I might have a little less function in my arm, but it would not have stopped me from having a fulfilling life. I look at the sexual, emotional, and mental trauma from my past much in the same way. I have since found people to support me in healing my past experiences and have learned the skills I need to have so that it does not happen again. I may have a memory of something not so pleasing, I may have a quirky personality, it may have taken time to heal, but it does not stop me from having a fulfilling life. There is nothing wrong with me.

Some of my most beautiful qualities have come from overcoming the experiences in my past. One of these is that I have a lot of compassion. Having experienced what I have, I have a deep understanding of what it is to go through experiences that much of the world does not, I believe that they can be overcome, and I appreciate the sometimes quirky personality traits that result from traumatic experiences. Another quality, and probably my favorite, is my excitement for life. I feel like a grown-up kid on a regular basis. When I feel myself handling a situation with maturity and confidence, I often feel as if I have won a million dollars, or something as equally fabulous. Many moments of my every day life feel like miracles because I never imagined that I could live a life with this much confidence and grace.

Company: b.tempt’d by Wacoal

Style Name: Lace Kiss Bralette

Highlights: NO UNDERWIRE, Sexy AND Comfortable, Adjustable Straps, Numerous matching underwear options, Multiple color choices

Potential Setbacks: Bra slips over the head, Feel of lace, Headlights might show with thinner tops