Blog - Page 9 of 18 - Kathleen Hassan

Buh-Bye to What No Longer Serves Me

December 31st is just another day. It happens to fall on a Friday this year. Yet it seems as if the whole world is busy prepping for the BIG NIGHT as resolutions are made and check lists of things to fix about ourselves grow longer. We resolve to be better, happier, thinner, richer, more successful as we strive to become who we think we’re supposed to be. This year I resolve to simply love and accept myself - just the way I am. I also made a list of things that just no longer serve me and was now ready and willing to let go. Surprisingly, that list grew to almost 40 items that I was just so totally done with. December 21st was the perfect moment to have a sacred cleansing and releasing ceremony. It was as if the cosmos had aligned just for me to carry my [...]

By Kathleen| 2017-03-07T14:24:13-05:00 December 31st, 2010|

Confidence Tip: Avoid the Comparison Trap

Warning! Falling into the comparison trap can keep you stuck and trapped in a prison of your own making. Comparing yourself to others sets you up for a lifetime of lack. It is the energy of scarcity and will leave you always wanting more; never satisfied, never feeling good enough. Stop comparing your insides to someone else's outsides. You never know, the girl with the new Louis Vuitton bag might be dying inside. If someone has something or some quality that you admire or wish you had, instead of getting jealous simply say, "That's for me!" When you switch your energy from envy to intention, You become a magnet and actually attract more great things into your life. "Comparison is a thief of joy." ~Theodore Roosevelt

By Kathleen| 2017-03-07T14:25:37-05:00 September 20th, 2010|

Confidence Tip: Practice Positive Self-Talk

Do you talk to yourself? If you’re sitting there wondering “Do I talk to myself?” Then the answer is, YES! You just did it! Pay attention to the messages you give to yourself and be your own BFF. Talk to yourself the way you wish others would speak to you. If you catch yourself saying something negative, consciously tell yourself to stop and then replace that thought with a more positive and empowering statement such as “I am enough - just the way I am” or “I matter,” “I am loved and lovable.” We teach people how to treat us by the way we treat ourselves. You want love? Start loving yourself. Affirmations are positive statements in the present tense spoken as if they are already achieved. When practiced and repeated over time, these positive statements become new beliefs which effect our behavior and attitude and we then begin to [...]

By Kathleen| 2017-03-07T14:26:34-05:00 September 14th, 2010|

Confidence Tip: Just Breathe

Sometimes the simplest tool is the one that is most overlooked and underutilized. Give it a shot... what have you got to lose except all that stress??? Research has shown that 3 cleansing deep breaths turn on the relaxation response and turn off the flight or fight response. So when you're feeling stressed just remember to BREATHE... Inhale 1-2-3... hold... Exhale 1-2-3 and repeat. It's like sending a signal to your brain... it'...s OK... I'm safe and all is well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OECo7254jT8 Here are some of the benefits of deep breathing: Reduces stress Promotes better sleep Increases energy Quiets racing thoughts Relaxes muscles Releases endorphins - the feel good hormone Try to make conscious deep breathing a regular habit. You will become more mindful and present in your own life and you will develop the ability to access inner guidance and intuition while in that heightened relaxed state and that [...]

By Kathleen| 2017-03-07T14:27:26-05:00 September 13th, 2010|

Weighing In on HUGE

Have you seen ABC Family’s latest summer blockbuster, HUGE? It’s the story of a group of teens at a weight loss camp, otherwise known as fat camp. When I first heard about it, I was intrigued, skeptical and disgusted all at the same time. Another show focusing on what is wrong with teens today and yet another blatant example of the media exploiting social issues to their advantage. Due to a regular Monday night commitment, I haven’t been home to watch it, but as I said, I was intrigued, so I had been taping it. Last week I sat down to a HUGE marathon and have to say, not only was I pleasantly surprised, I actually loved it. HUGE is well written and the characters are engaging, interesting and so lovable - even though none of them would ever claim that to be true. There are so many layers [...]

By Kathleen| 2017-03-07T14:30:26-05:00 August 16th, 2010|

“Knowing” Leo

Last week, Leo Wesner, one of my spiritual teachers passed away. Leo was a gentle soul and a spiritual giant to all who knew him. In addition to being a teacher, he was also a student of A Course in Miracles and shared his insights weekly with a small ACIM study group which I was blessed to be a part of for over a year. Leo was a scholar and a linguistic master who digested and synthesized the message of the Course by delving into the meaning of The Word behind the words. Leo had cancer, but he didn’t die from cancer. He died because he no longer needed his body to teach him the lessons of the spirit. He had achieved the “knowingness” that he was so fond of talking about as he explained the Course to us each week. He taught us about the Gnosticism, the teaching based [...]

By Kathleen| 2017-03-07T14:30:39-05:00 May 5th, 2010|

Dreams Can Come True

When we were little, everything was possible and no dream was out of reach. We were literally playing make-believe and planting a strong and powerful belief in the rich and fertile soil of our minds. Under the right conditions, those dreams can root, grow and blossom into fruition. Yet so often in life, the dreams we had as little girls get crushed, buried or simply fade away. With today’s technology and with social networking mediums like Facebook and YouTube, many people are using them as powerful platforms to successfully launch their dreams out into the world. Others seem to just magically get discovered through these channels because of the viral nature of this technology. Imagine being three years old and having your fantasy dream come true? Here is an amazing story that unfolded as a result of YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtF6bcxHWR4 I stumbled upon this story last week quite by chance. [...]

By Kathleen| 2017-03-07T14:31:31-05:00 March 10th, 2010|

Girls and Guidance

A week doesn’t go by without receiving an email (or several) from girls desperately looking for guidance. The details of their stories may differ, but the essence of each request is exactly the same: “Please help!” Help me figure out if I should tell this guy how I feel... Help me learn how to be more confident around other people... Help me figure out what my next step should be... Help me get along better with my mom. There was a time when I would personally answer each request and offer suggestions about how they might move through their challenge. This could easily have turned into a full time job if I let it, so I decided to reach more girls who might be going through the very same challenges by posting my responses on my blog or by creating videos on YouTube. Not only would I be helping more [...]

By Kathleen| 2017-03-07T14:35:01-05:00 February 8th, 2010|

When the Bully is You!

And by you, I mean me. I’ve been procrastinating about writing this article for about a month now because it’s rather humbling to discover that after lecturing about self-esteem and empowerment to teen girls for over a decade that the bully was actually me. But after reading an article in the Boston Globe the other day about Phoebe Prince, a fifteen year old girl who committed suicide after being bullied at school by the so-called “mean girls,” I knew that the time had come to tell this story. I hope to shed a different light on the topic of girls and bullying in order to better understand both perspectives and to help heal both the bullies and the bullied. I’ve never been one to hop on the anti-bullying crusade because I have learned that whatever we push against, we actually bring more of the same back into our experience. In [...]

By Kathleen| 2017-03-07T14:36:10-05:00 January 29th, 2010|

When Bad is So Good

What do rockers Keri Hilson, Gwen Stefani and Katy Perry have in common? Besides the obvious of being extremely talented, they have all landed on the celebrity client wish list of those "baddest" girls that up-and-coming designer, Samantha Ferguson would love to see wearing her Donnaccia clothing line. Can't you just see Gwen Stefani or Keri Hilson rocking this skirt? Imagine Katy Perry on the red carpet wearing this beautiful dress? I met Samantha Ferguson while speaking at the Young Women's Leadership Conference in York, PA. Samantha is a member of SIFE (Students In Free Enterprise) and was one of the models who rocked the fashion show demonstrating how to get the look for less by consignment shopping. As always, I am so inspired and fascinated by young women with a vision which Samantha clearly has. During lunch she told me about her business and brand but [...]

By Kathleen| 2017-03-07T14:36:46-05:00 December 1st, 2009|