Soul Shui

America's Obession with Beauty

I went to see a fascinating documentary movie this weekend on America's obsession with beauty called America the Beautiful.  Being a woman who is not obsessed with, but certainly aware of, and who cares about beauty in all forms, I really loved the film and found it to be insightful on many levels.

The filmmaker Darryl Roberts does a fantastic job of conveying his premise of the American obsession, by building his story around a young model named Garren Taylor, who was only 12 years old when the film begins!  Garren is completely obsessed with becoming a high fashion runway model and has a mother who supports her dream without boundaries.  Without giving too much away about the film, it ends with Garren as an 18 year old young woman with a less than fulfilled dream.  I felt sad for her experience in a cruel and selfish industry, but even more sad that her mother was not able to be a better role model and support her growth into becoming a confident and strong young woman.

The most thought provoking perspective of the film for me is her mothers relentless pursuit of making Garren a star, without guiding her to find deeper values that will carry her throughout her life.  I believe a parent should support their children's dreams, but not at the cost of their self development.  The mother, once a small town model herself seemed to be living out her own unfulfilled dreams.  She even goes so far as to get 'in on' the modeling act by posing with Garren in an ad campaign.  It was clear to me when the film ended that Garren had a long road ahead of rebuilding her self confidence because the only thing she knew was she is pretty and could work the cat walk like a sexy young woman.  How far does that get you in life without a strong character underneath it all?

There are so many underlying messages throughout the film that made think.  For example the less than ethical exploits of the large cosmetic companies using cancer causing chemicals in their products (Revlon).  The business of tabloids, entertainment, advertisers and of course the world of cosmetic surgery, a very mixed bag subject for many.  I do believe in cosmetic surgery, yet I respect those who do not.  We are all entitled to our beliefs, so I don't poo poo those who do not believe in it.  Instead it left me asking myself the question 'Why do I believe in cosmetic surgery?'  And is it not a good idea to fool with what mother nature gives us?  If looking good is feeling good, where should one draw the line?  I suppose we all have to find our own sense of balance and what works for us.  But the bottom line is just because one is beautiful on the outside, without the strength of character, confidence and self knowledge of who we are and what we stand for, beauty is truly just skin deep.

Laura Fenamore - Body Image Master

Laura Fenamore is a certified coach, who specializes in body esteem.  She is a body image master who guides her clients to a more successful life through her workshops, teleseminars, and individual and group coaching.  Laura is endorsed by Jack Canfield as a "One of the most dynamic, compassionate, caring, empowering, skilled coaches I've ever worked with in my life."

I met Laura through another coach who recommended her for coaching services.  At the time, I was going through the Hudson Institute and needed to hire my own personal coach as part of the program.  I found Laura to be a passionate and invested coach throughout the process.  Her heartfelt care is expansive and her desire to see her clients achieve their goals is palpable.  Although I did not seek body esteem coaching, Laura provided me with an effective framework for achieving the goals I set for myself.  Through her guidance, I took the plunge of moving back to LA to pursue my lifelong goal of being back in my hometown.  Now, 3 years later I am pursuing my own dreams of helping people achieve personal success and happiness.

Right now, Laura is in the process of interviewing clients for her upcoming 12 week tele-seminar class called 'Loving What You See In The Mirror'.  If you are interested in learning more, contact Laura directly at laura@laurafenamore.com.  If you are struggling with body image issues this is a very powerful class for you to consider.  With Laura's guidance, care and support you will be on your way to creating the body you envision for yourself.

If you are interested in finding out more about Laura, please visit her website at http://www.laurafenamore.com/.  She is one of the coaches out there committed to helping people live, richer, happier and more aligned lives.  Go Laura!!

Relationship Expert Dr. Paul Dobransky

About a year ago, I stumbled upon a man by the name of Dr. Paul Dobransky, or Dr. Paul as his followers and readers know him best.  Dr. Paul is a Board Certified Psychiatrist and Medical Doctor, who specializes in relationships.  Dr. Paul likens his research and published products to the e=Mc2 of psychology.  Dr. Paul has managed to fuse the science of psychology with the spirituality of love.  Not an easy thing to do in my book.  His findings and products are a godsend for anyone who struggles in the arena of love and relationships.  I'd say, with the divorce rate still hovering around the 60% range that is quite a few of us!!

A good place to start with Dr. Paul's products is Mind OS.  This product is what he calls the human mind operating system. This product puts into perspective how our minds work and the difference between healthy and unhealthy minds relating to relationships.  Another foundational product, which has a very fun test to go along with it is called KWML.  This product helps in the understanding of personality types, so that in understanding your own personality type, you can learn how to select and identify the right one for yourself.  If you have a fascination for understanding yourself and others, you will love this tool.   Perhaps my favorite out of all the products is Dr. Paul's Seventh Sense Seminar.  This product is all about understanding how courtship works in the psyche of the sexes.  It literally provides you with a roadmap for navigating your way through a romantic relationship.

Although the majority of his work focuses on understanding the opposite sex, he recently published a book called The Power of Female Friendship. I like that Dr. Paul has such a HUGE respect for women and the role we play in society.  With this latest work, Dr. Paul goes so far as to say that "Friendships, between women particularly - may be the real 'glue' that holds society together, even more so than marriage or family."

With over 20 years of research, experience and expertise in the area of love and relationships, Dr. Paul is in my humble opinion, one of the thought leaders in the area of relationships.  He is a man on a mission committed to helping those who are in search of finding 'healthy' love in this lifetime. 

For more information about Dr. Paul's products and research, visit his websites by clicking on one of the icons below.  Also, be sure to sign up for his newsletters.  His words are golden and most of you will come away a little bit smarter than you were before about relationships.

Web Consulting Services for Small Businesses

A friend and colleague of mine, Connie Boitey, recently made the brave and courageous move of starting her own business.  I met Connie at The Hudson Institute, where she was a Director in charge of running the Life Launch and coaches certification programs for Pam McLean, co-founder of The Hudson Institute.  Connie and I hit it off immediately because of her warm and caring nature.  I could feel Connie's passion and dedication to helping others.  Connie has a natural talent for putting people at ease, while helping them achieve their end goals.  Connie brought much change to the way HI introduced technology to their coaching graduates and it makes complete sense that she has created iConnie.

iConnie is a web services consulting business that provides a very useful resource for solo and entrepreneurs who are looking for a subject matter expert in getting a web presence started.  Connie recently announced her 1st ever Web 101 Teleclass that will teach it's participants how to create online newsletters, blogs, podcasts and more.  The cost for this teleclass is $399, which is a steal considering how quickly she can get you up and running on the web.  I have spent hours and hours researching and figuring things out for myself, so if you would rather save yourself the time and consult with a subject matter expert in this space, Connie is absoulutely your gal.

You can find out more about iConnie by visiting her website at www.iconnie.com or email her directly at connie@iconnie.com. Download introiconnie2.pdf

You are What You Eat

For those of you who do not buy into the old adage, 'You are What you Eat' listen up!  I picked up Dr. Timothy Brantley's book called The Cure, Heal Your Body, Save Your Life.  Dr. Brantley has spent years studying nutritional medicine and has worked with numerous clients who were literally on the brink of death. It all really started when Cancer and illness struck his family, including himself!  His inquisitive mind as a young boy led him to his passion of understanding how the human body works and the things that can be done through Lifestyle and nutrition to heal deadly diseases.  Dr. Brantley became a go to person for people who were on their death beds.  Just read his book and you will be blown away by story after story of clients who were told by their Doctor's there was no hope. Personally, I devoured every last word of his book! His clients have suffered obesity, liver and kidney disease, asthma, arthritis, and even the big C word...... Cancer!

When a friend casually mentioned Dr. Brantley and his herbs to me, I was interested because I had been looking for digestive enzymes.  At the beginning of this year, I decided to do a Master Cleanse, which I did for 10 days.  When you do a Master Cleanse one of the things they recommend as you are reintroducing food back into your system is taking probiotics.  Probiotics replenish your colon with the 'good' type of bacteria for optimal nutrition absorption.  I had heard of digestive enzymes, so it was a natural time to introduce the probiotics as well as the enzymes.  Through my cleansing metamorphosis, and Dr. Brantley's amazing insight, I became more and more committed to eliminating all man made and processed foods from my life!  Dr. Brantley advocates raw eating as a way of life, which agrees so completely with me and makes total sense.  I realize not everyone can make such a drastic and fast transition, however if you take that first step, one never knows what possibilities lay ahead.

I am now coaching a client using Dr. Brantley's road-map that he includes in his book.  I've also got both my parents and a close friend all at varying degree's of the health spectrum using Dr. Brantley's herbs.  So far everyone is feeling the healing aspects as a result of the herbs and drinking more water.  Another Dr. Brantley's message is how we must drink half our body weight in water, in ounces per day!!  The human body is 70-75% water!!  The  healing and balancing components of properly structured and clustered waters is something else Dr. Brantley has studied.  Check his website for a list of waters he has tested and recommends.

Have I got your attention yet?  I hope so!!  I am a HUGE advocate of Dr. Brantley's philosophies and products.  If you have any questions or would like to talk with me further about what I have learned and experienced through using his products and implementing his eating strategies please get in touch with me!!   

It's Official: I'm ADDICTED to Pilates Plus!!

I discovered the best and I mean THE BEST Pilates workout in LA completely by accident.  My wonderful neighbor Lexi and I were chatting one day when the topic turned to fitness.  Her passion for this amazing Pilates work out called Pilates Plus and some of the instructors were enough to peak my interest..... big time.  In typical Kim fashion I was online that night researching everything I needed to learn about this body changing work out.

What I learned is this - Pilates Plus takes the old, rehabilitative Pilates work out and transforms it into a body toning, muscle elongating, cardiovascular, butt kicking work out!  This isn't just stretching and rehabilitating folks this is an honest to goodness workout that has me completely addicted.  And I am not one who is passionate about wasting hours in the gym.  I want an effective and efficient workout.  Pilates Plus has me so addicted, it's like exercise crack.  If I am going out of town for more than a day or two, I literally workout for multiple days in a row, so I don't miss my 5 day a week routine!  Who knew exercising could be this good?  What makes this work out so addictive for me is that it takes all the athletic and movement (read: dance) components of what I loved doing as a kid and still love doing today, and even has a flair for the gymnast in me.  Bonus points!!  Just try a move called 'spoon' and you will see what I mean.  Have you ever done a kip on the uneven parallel bars before?  All I can say is WARNING: major core strength needed.

One of the best things about Pilates Plus is it's creator and visionary Sebastian LaGree.  Sebastians' Pilates machine called the Proformer is sleek, powerful and so effective that he has set out to share his machine and body transforming creation with the world.  Sebastian is offering affiliates all over the globe, so YOU too can hope and pray for a Pilates Plus studio coming to you very soon.  Or better yet, you can open up your own Pilates Plus studio!  Personally, I am quite partial to the Beverly Hills studio, which is owned by 2 of the loveliest and most beautiful young women Sira Butler and Eden Sassoon.  Not only do their souls sing with the same passion for Pilates Plus that mine do, but their bodies are proof positive that this work out truly does exactly what it sets out to do.  And they have a very clear mission and passion for helping others achieve their fitness goals by sharing this amazing workout with the world.  I am a sucker for anyone who is living their passion, while setting out to change the world, one person at a time.

If you happen to live in the Los Angeles area take advantage of the amazing special going on at the Beverly Hills studio.  I personally kicked my gym membership to the curb, so check it out!!  And guys... no excuses.  This work out is NOT just for women.  ;-)  Just ask Pilates Plus trainers Glenn Kennedy or Sebastian himself!

Create an Amazing Lifestyle for Yourself

Websters defines lifestyle as: the typical way of life of an individual, group, or culture.  In my own definition, I would say that a lifestyle is anything but typical.  It is the creation of a way of life that we envision for ourselves, which can affect and spread across groups and cultures.  Why think small when EVERYTHING is possible?

A friend of mine recently had the great gift of spending a weekend with Tony Robbins, in an intimate personal development gathering.  The invitation came at a very interesting time considering he had just hit his rock bottom.  Drugs, alcohol and the partying lifestyle had gotten the better of him.  Much to his amazing credit, he committed to completely letting go of this lifestyle in favor of going after his dreams!  He was probably sober for 3 weeks when the incredible invitation arrived to be personally coached by Tony Robbins.  Talk about the universe delivering precisely what he needed at the right time!!  Anyway, this experience of being personally coached by Tony Robbins added confounding energy towards his resolve in dissolving his fears.  Tony passed along so many great gifts that weekend, many of which I don't even know, but something he shared with me that he learned from Tony is that - EVERYTHING is possible.  Semantically speaking, not 'anything', but EVERYTHING!  Think not passively, but with action and conviction!  What a small, yet powerful shift in feeling from changing the use of just one word.  Each word we think and speak matters.... profoundly.

What does any of this have to do with the topic of lifestyle?  Everything!  You see we have a choice to sit passively and live life without intention, or we have the opportunity to envision a life and create it!  In the case of my friend he is actively choosing to let go of a destructive lifestyle that pointed in the direction of the lowest of low vibrational frequencies, in favor of an uplifting and powerful lifestyle that allows the highest of high vibrational frequencies to support him. 

Something to ponder: What kind of lifestyle do you choose for yourself? 

Lightning in a Bottle for Fun!

I am finally settled in to my new place in LA.  After 3 moves since last September, Morgan and I have found a place to call home.  At least for the next year.  Happily, my very close friend, Bonnie, lives right next door.  It's wonderful being back in a place that feels happy and secure.

Helping others create lifestyles that are connected and aligned with their purpose is my mission in life. I have become more aware and in tune with those who are aligned to their purpose.  Since moving, arriving back in LA has allowed me to start new, and see life with a fresh and new perspective.  There is something very powerful about making a life change that opens up new opportunity and awareness.

I arrived in LA at a very interesting time in relationship to my close friend Bonnie Stern.  Bonnie was thrust in to the spotlight to defend her brother Howard K. Stern, committed partner of Anna Nicole Smith.  What a painful and eye opening experience this was for me.  I have so much love and respect for Bonnie and the Stern family.  The experience of watching Bonnie and her family go through the insanity of media sensationalism made it clear to me how broken society can be.  When it comes to the media, it's all about shock value, money and ratings.  When it comes to the audience, people can judge so quickly, and without the notion of remembering you never know the real story until you have walked a day in their shoes.  It is sad and disappointing to me that tabloids exist; yet people support the business by buying them.  I am personally taking a stand and will not support any tabloids or publications that sensationalize and print stories that are negative and run the risk of hurting people.  My focus is centered on doing my part to help raise the lower vibrational frequencies such as fear, guilt, jealousy and anger to the higher frequencies of love, joy, gratitute and peace.

This past weekend I made a trek to Santa Barbara for the event Lightening in a Bottle.  If you are a hippie at heart, like me, you will love this event.  It's a 3 day green music festival filled with wonderful, happy and loving people.  It's along the lines of Burning Man if you have ever been, but on a much smaller scale.  The vibe is wonderful and reminds me that we must break out of our busy lives to have fun; meet and bond with new, interesting people and learn a few things about life, others and ourselves in the process.  Check it out http://www.lightninginabottle.org/.

She's Alive!!

Last week, two friends gave me a swift kick in the butt.  "What is going on with Soul Shui?"  "And why haven't you been posting to your blog?"  Well, they're right.  A lot has been going on since my last posting in December 2005, so here is the official update on Soul Shui and the undertaking of a new career.

When Soul Shui was born it meant moving in an entirely new direction.  I spent all of 2006 studying for my coaching certification, which was like an intensive master’s degree program.   All of this while holding down a full time job.  As you can imagine, blogging was not at the forefront of my mind.  I was barely breathing!!!  Meltdowns were frequent, yet it was one of the most intensive growth periods of my life.  As part of my certification, I hired a personal coach.  The things I learned about myself were life changing. I came away with even more intense feelings of making a contribution in some way.  Be it big or small, it doesn't matter. I must feel a sense of purpose and contribute to the world in a purposeful way.

Mid year, 2006, I decided it was time to make the move to LA.  It has always been my lifelong dream to spend some of my adult years back in my hometown. Leaving SF was bittersweet on many levels, but I was ready. Typically, I feel pretty stagnant after 5 years; some sort of change must evolve and reignite me. This is the first time I have gone after something that screamed “you’re on your path girl.” 

Fast forward to February 2007 and here I am living in LA. It was a bit of a rough landing, I must admit (three moves later to find the right home). Although I still remain entangled with the corporate world, my focus now is to eventually part ways with Juniper and move full time into the lifestyle coaching brand I am building.  I am ever so grateful to Juniper for all the support they have given and the person they have helped me to become.  They are a great company, yet as we all know life is ever changing and if we embrace growth and change, all good things come to an end.  When one door closes another will open.

The bottom line - this girl is most certainly on a mission, but it all takes time. I am now learning the lesson of patience and allowing the answers to come to me. I may have a vision, but the game plan of making the vision happen is still unfolding. I came to LA for both personal and professional reasons. I’m allowing myself to have the adventure. Frankly, part of the adventure is the struggle of letting the answers unfold. I am learning the lesson of patience, which is not my strongest virtue.

All this said thank you David and Pierre for giving me the swift kick in the butt I so needed this week. I might just be forever indebted. 

You all have my permission to give me a kick in the butt when I need one. After all, what are friends for??

For Intelligent Optimists

I found a very insightful viewpoint in Ode Magazine on change trends that are starting to emerge in the world we live in.  It begs to ask the question of all us: Are we truly advocates of change?  If so, have you identified your special gifts and talents, which allow you to lead by example and do your part to affect change in the world?  For me, the message is clear; think outside of the box in order to enact progressive change.  I want to know what I can do to help more than just writing a check or signing a petition.  I want to incorporate progressive ideas in to how I live my life.

I was immediately drawn to Ode because the publication takes a position that there is more to report on than the sensationalism around every day crisis.  Writers take a positive approach to delivering stories about people and initiatives that are inspiring change in the world.  From my own personal experience the degree to which my energy level increases by reading a positive viewpoint vs. a sensationalized, negative viewpoint is dramatic.  Dr. David Hawkin's M.D., P.H.D., has conducted over 20 years of research, which is reflected in a book called Power vs. Force.  His book explores the connection between positive and negative emotions, our vibrational (energetic) output, and the law of attraction.  He gives some astounding examples of how emotions like joy, thoughtfulness, and compassion can improve the lives of thousands as we walk through life. 

The title of the Ode article is Your World in 2015, and it certainly made me think.  It's a fascinating read and well worth the time as is all of David Hawkin's work.