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Holistic Counselling
"Your heart is waiting to be nurtured"
"Votre cœur attend d'être nourri d'amour de soi."
I'm a Spiritual counsellor.
Je suis un Spirituelle thérapeute.
Source of the quote below:
Henry David Thoreau
Je suis un Spirituelle thérapeute.
Source of the quote below:
Henry David Thoreau
Book signing event
Milton Indigo
- "Happiness is like a butterfly,
- If you chase it, it will fly away,
- If you stay still,
- it will gently rest in your heart."
- "Le bonheur est comme un papillon,
- Si vous le poursuivez, il s'envolera,
- Si vous restez immobile,
- il reposera doucement dans votre cœur."
- ~ Nancy Forbes
This is a beautiful letter from a 16 year old, already on a road to self-healing, and to self-discovery! With her permission I am sharing her story with you.
Thank you Sydney for taking the time to write me this inspirational message. You are a courageous butterfly, an inspiration to all of us!
My journey to self-love
My journey to self-love began in November of 2012. I had just spent the day with Nancy Forbes at her lovely home. We talked about friendship, family, and most importantly, self-acceptance. She blessed me with her book and the moment I began to read Courageous Butterfly, I knew I was beginning my own spiritual journey to self-love. I had just begun my first year of high school and was thrown into a completely different world. Needless to say, the stress and anxiety of grades and trying to fit in. I was not in a good place. My relationship with my family and friends were fading right before my eyes and more importantly, my relationship with my mother was on the edge of not existing at all. I began to blame all that was wrong with my life on myself, which only brought a grander problem; self-hatred. I hurt from the very core of my being. The negativity I felt towards myself led me to see everyone the same way. I failed to see the beauty in all that the world holds which only fed the ever darkness inside of me.
I began to lose touch with myself and was moving further and further away from who I desired to be. As I read through Nancy’s book, I realized that I wasn’t the only person who felt this constant unhappiness and dissatisfaction with myself, but I also knew that I didn’t want to stay in that dark place. I was determined to improve my life, and yet, I didn’t know how. I searched for hours on how to change my life and become more positive after reading hundreds of articles. Then something told me to figure it out for myself. Although we all face darkness in our lives, no solution to the problem is the exact same.
I knew I had to discover the root of my problems, and then work from there. In order to learn to love myself, I had to do what I tried to avoid everyday; I had to spend time getting to know me. This was the hardest things I had to do. How is it possible to love the person you disliked for so many years? How can I let this pain go through? First, I had to forgive myself, and then I worked hard on changing my old beliefs so to move toward the person I was meant to be. I also had to forgive the people who had put me down my whole life, because holding on to their words only adds to my pain, my sinking ship. The act of forgiveness had freed me from self-hatred and resentment, and I felt lighter. I knew that the more I threw out the negative energy, the more room I was creating for happiness.
In moments of discomfort, I would say to myself, “I love you Sydney. You are worthy. You are better than your story. I believe in your ability to improve”.
When I see how beautiful and deserving of love I am, I began to see the same for everyone. Sometimes while hanging out with friends, I compliment them. I also like to make a stranger smile. It’s important to compliment people because my words may be the only kind words they hear that day. I can’t expect people to go from self-hatred to self-love overnight because it wasn’t an overnight experience for me. Love is contagious. So I believe that if I love myself, people will begin to feel the exact same way about themselves.
I know that my self-love journey is one that will never end. It is also one I would have never started if it wasn't for Courageous Butterfly.
Courageous Butterfly has touched my heart, and I will carry the gift Nancy has brought to the world in times of needs, in times of appreciation, and most importantly in times of pure Joy.
On that day in November, Nancy asked me to do a 28 day challenge; writing 10 things I am grateful for. This has helped me enormously to see the world differently. I recommend it to anyone.
For the ones who are struggling, remember that I love you, and that somewhere inside of you there is an eternal peace.
Here’s a beautiful quote that brought me comfort during tough times: “You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection”.
Sydney, 16 years old, about to enter grade 11, this September 2014
I am a precious gift to this Earth, and so are you!
Thank you Sydney for taking the time to write me this inspirational message. You are a courageous butterfly, an inspiration to all of us!
My journey to self-love
My journey to self-love began in November of 2012. I had just spent the day with Nancy Forbes at her lovely home. We talked about friendship, family, and most importantly, self-acceptance. She blessed me with her book and the moment I began to read Courageous Butterfly, I knew I was beginning my own spiritual journey to self-love. I had just begun my first year of high school and was thrown into a completely different world. Needless to say, the stress and anxiety of grades and trying to fit in. I was not in a good place. My relationship with my family and friends were fading right before my eyes and more importantly, my relationship with my mother was on the edge of not existing at all. I began to blame all that was wrong with my life on myself, which only brought a grander problem; self-hatred. I hurt from the very core of my being. The negativity I felt towards myself led me to see everyone the same way. I failed to see the beauty in all that the world holds which only fed the ever darkness inside of me.
I began to lose touch with myself and was moving further and further away from who I desired to be. As I read through Nancy’s book, I realized that I wasn’t the only person who felt this constant unhappiness and dissatisfaction with myself, but I also knew that I didn’t want to stay in that dark place. I was determined to improve my life, and yet, I didn’t know how. I searched for hours on how to change my life and become more positive after reading hundreds of articles. Then something told me to figure it out for myself. Although we all face darkness in our lives, no solution to the problem is the exact same.
I knew I had to discover the root of my problems, and then work from there. In order to learn to love myself, I had to do what I tried to avoid everyday; I had to spend time getting to know me. This was the hardest things I had to do. How is it possible to love the person you disliked for so many years? How can I let this pain go through? First, I had to forgive myself, and then I worked hard on changing my old beliefs so to move toward the person I was meant to be. I also had to forgive the people who had put me down my whole life, because holding on to their words only adds to my pain, my sinking ship. The act of forgiveness had freed me from self-hatred and resentment, and I felt lighter. I knew that the more I threw out the negative energy, the more room I was creating for happiness.
In moments of discomfort, I would say to myself, “I love you Sydney. You are worthy. You are better than your story. I believe in your ability to improve”.
When I see how beautiful and deserving of love I am, I began to see the same for everyone. Sometimes while hanging out with friends, I compliment them. I also like to make a stranger smile. It’s important to compliment people because my words may be the only kind words they hear that day. I can’t expect people to go from self-hatred to self-love overnight because it wasn’t an overnight experience for me. Love is contagious. So I believe that if I love myself, people will begin to feel the exact same way about themselves.
I know that my self-love journey is one that will never end. It is also one I would have never started if it wasn't for Courageous Butterfly.
Courageous Butterfly has touched my heart, and I will carry the gift Nancy has brought to the world in times of needs, in times of appreciation, and most importantly in times of pure Joy.
On that day in November, Nancy asked me to do a 28 day challenge; writing 10 things I am grateful for. This has helped me enormously to see the world differently. I recommend it to anyone.
For the ones who are struggling, remember that I love you, and that somewhere inside of you there is an eternal peace.
Here’s a beautiful quote that brought me comfort during tough times: “You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection”.
Sydney, 16 years old, about to enter grade 11, this September 2014
I am a precious gift to this Earth, and so are you!
I received a wonderful email from this amazing 14 year old. With her permission I am sharing with you her email and personal message. Sara understood very well the message of Courageous Butterfly.
I want to thank her for her courage to share what's in her heart with me and now with all of you.
Get ready to be AMAZED by this gifted young writer.
Hi Mrs Forbes, I know my mom used to attend your yoga classes and thanks to her I got hold of your book. I just wanted to share that last year in grade 8, my class had to do a big English presentation on a novel of our choice and I chose yours, "Courageous Butterfly." Your book had such an effect on me that through my essay I even brought my class to tears, that's how amazing your writing was. I based it on self acceptance and love, and basically I've been meaning to thank you for a while and I never gained enough courage to do so, but here I am now, and so thank you. I really loved your novel and I hope you're inspired to write more in the future. I'll be first in line at any given book store.
-Sara
C o u r a g e o u s B u t t e r f l y
A novel by Nancy Forbes
A journey to self-acceptance
A message of hope, love and courage
To all courageous butterflies,
Some on track with the lightest of winds along their way, others lost and off track against violent storms.
For my independent reading final task I chose to read a beautiful novel by Nancy Forbes called “Courageous Butterfly”. It was written as inspiration for those living life in fear, stress, depression and chronic anxiety. It is for those who wonder where they came from, who they are, and what the meaning of life is. I had many recommendations for this novel and now I also recommend it to all of you. I truly enjoyed the process of reading it and taking the time to understand it, even if it took a few tears along the way. The deepest meaning I understood from this novel is the importance of love. I hope through my presentation you can understand it too.
Sometimes we may look around and dislike everything we see. We can even turn away from ourselves with thought of imperfection, the thought of self hatred and all that piles onto our suffering. We push away the love within us and the love we are made up of. We are creations of God, born into the world with perfect love. He formed us with love, therefore we are love. “Love is the ultimate healing force”, Nancy says in her novel, if so, we are also the ultimate healing force. Mrs Forbes helps us understand that we are capable of helping our own selves and the hundreds around us, familiar faces and new. If being happy and shinning light on all the darkness is what we are truly looking to find, with hope, love and courage we can succeed.
There are times where we look around and see nothing but ourselves against this big world with over 6 billion people. We might feel scared and alone. Where our hearts start to pound in a beat faster then prestissimo in face of others because we don’t know what to say, do, where to go, or how to act. In the novel “Courageous Butterfly” Nancy Forbes explains the hard times in her life. She states exactly how she felt and her fear to open up to her own self and to the people around her, including her most loved ones. The feeling of loneliness can tear our hearts apart. The sanity in our minds and the strength and love we would originally use as our weapons, slowly disappear. But we are never really alone. This novel widened my understanding that we are the ones who make ourselves isolated from the universe, but there are so many possibilities and keys to happiness all around us. “When we feel lonely we have let our happiness depend on someone or on something, but our true happiness relies only on ourselves.”
Mrs Forbes hopes that through “Courageous Butterfly” she could spread a message of hope, love and courage. In her novel she shows her not so very bright experiences and also her vibrant ones. Existing in this world always seemed like one big unanswered question to Nancy; “Why do I feel so out of touch, so alone, so different? Who am I?” she asked herself. She had felt so alone and unwanted. Mrs Forbes had hit rock bottom several times, she was so broken that she could drown in a spoon of her tears. Her childhood was no fairytale and life after brought her even more pain. Nancy had lost a son Jessy that was only a few days old; this turned her world upside down once again. Her life seemed like an endless battle. Staying strong was difficult, it was practically impossible. Love, it was out of the picture, God was blamed for it all and she was nothing in her own eyes. But the second she found love again, the minute God came back into her heart and over the course of days, she had learned to love herself. Finally Nancy knew she was okay.
I read that “everything starts from love”. I can agree and I think you can too. Love is indescribable. You might call it madness, happiness, the most important feeling in the world; it might be someone special to you. Love could be family, friends, accepting the ones we’re not so very fond of, it all depends on you. Without love, there is no life. If we didn’t love, we wouldn’t be sitting in this classroom right now. Our teachers wouldn’t be here if they didn’t love to learn new things and pass their knowledge down to us as students. Doctors wouldn’t spend a large part of their lives in preparing and dedicating themselves to helping others. Without the unconditional love we receive from our parents the minute they found out about us we wouldn’t be who we are today. If Nancy didn’t love her family, and her husband Luke or as she calls him her “grounding force” she wouldn’t rise every time she fell. Now she spreads her love every day by whispering “I love you” to every living thing around her, by sharing her story, and by helping others find themselves through yoga. We all need love, we are all capable to love, and if we all learned to love each other the way God wants us too, our pain might not all disappear but it can slowly begin to fade.
Written by Sara Falarz
Class of Mr Pender/Gr 8.
I want to thank her for her courage to share what's in her heart with me and now with all of you.
Get ready to be AMAZED by this gifted young writer.
Hi Mrs Forbes, I know my mom used to attend your yoga classes and thanks to her I got hold of your book. I just wanted to share that last year in grade 8, my class had to do a big English presentation on a novel of our choice and I chose yours, "Courageous Butterfly." Your book had such an effect on me that through my essay I even brought my class to tears, that's how amazing your writing was. I based it on self acceptance and love, and basically I've been meaning to thank you for a while and I never gained enough courage to do so, but here I am now, and so thank you. I really loved your novel and I hope you're inspired to write more in the future. I'll be first in line at any given book store.
-Sara
C o u r a g e o u s B u t t e r f l y
A novel by Nancy Forbes
A journey to self-acceptance
A message of hope, love and courage
To all courageous butterflies,
Some on track with the lightest of winds along their way, others lost and off track against violent storms.
For my independent reading final task I chose to read a beautiful novel by Nancy Forbes called “Courageous Butterfly”. It was written as inspiration for those living life in fear, stress, depression and chronic anxiety. It is for those who wonder where they came from, who they are, and what the meaning of life is. I had many recommendations for this novel and now I also recommend it to all of you. I truly enjoyed the process of reading it and taking the time to understand it, even if it took a few tears along the way. The deepest meaning I understood from this novel is the importance of love. I hope through my presentation you can understand it too.
Sometimes we may look around and dislike everything we see. We can even turn away from ourselves with thought of imperfection, the thought of self hatred and all that piles onto our suffering. We push away the love within us and the love we are made up of. We are creations of God, born into the world with perfect love. He formed us with love, therefore we are love. “Love is the ultimate healing force”, Nancy says in her novel, if so, we are also the ultimate healing force. Mrs Forbes helps us understand that we are capable of helping our own selves and the hundreds around us, familiar faces and new. If being happy and shinning light on all the darkness is what we are truly looking to find, with hope, love and courage we can succeed.
There are times where we look around and see nothing but ourselves against this big world with over 6 billion people. We might feel scared and alone. Where our hearts start to pound in a beat faster then prestissimo in face of others because we don’t know what to say, do, where to go, or how to act. In the novel “Courageous Butterfly” Nancy Forbes explains the hard times in her life. She states exactly how she felt and her fear to open up to her own self and to the people around her, including her most loved ones. The feeling of loneliness can tear our hearts apart. The sanity in our minds and the strength and love we would originally use as our weapons, slowly disappear. But we are never really alone. This novel widened my understanding that we are the ones who make ourselves isolated from the universe, but there are so many possibilities and keys to happiness all around us. “When we feel lonely we have let our happiness depend on someone or on something, but our true happiness relies only on ourselves.”
Mrs Forbes hopes that through “Courageous Butterfly” she could spread a message of hope, love and courage. In her novel she shows her not so very bright experiences and also her vibrant ones. Existing in this world always seemed like one big unanswered question to Nancy; “Why do I feel so out of touch, so alone, so different? Who am I?” she asked herself. She had felt so alone and unwanted. Mrs Forbes had hit rock bottom several times, she was so broken that she could drown in a spoon of her tears. Her childhood was no fairytale and life after brought her even more pain. Nancy had lost a son Jessy that was only a few days old; this turned her world upside down once again. Her life seemed like an endless battle. Staying strong was difficult, it was practically impossible. Love, it was out of the picture, God was blamed for it all and she was nothing in her own eyes. But the second she found love again, the minute God came back into her heart and over the course of days, she had learned to love herself. Finally Nancy knew she was okay.
I read that “everything starts from love”. I can agree and I think you can too. Love is indescribable. You might call it madness, happiness, the most important feeling in the world; it might be someone special to you. Love could be family, friends, accepting the ones we’re not so very fond of, it all depends on you. Without love, there is no life. If we didn’t love, we wouldn’t be sitting in this classroom right now. Our teachers wouldn’t be here if they didn’t love to learn new things and pass their knowledge down to us as students. Doctors wouldn’t spend a large part of their lives in preparing and dedicating themselves to helping others. Without the unconditional love we receive from our parents the minute they found out about us we wouldn’t be who we are today. If Nancy didn’t love her family, and her husband Luke or as she calls him her “grounding force” she wouldn’t rise every time she fell. Now she spreads her love every day by whispering “I love you” to every living thing around her, by sharing her story, and by helping others find themselves through yoga. We all need love, we are all capable to love, and if we all learned to love each other the way God wants us too, our pain might not all disappear but it can slowly begin to fade.
Written by Sara Falarz
Class of Mr Pender/Gr 8.