Darlene's Book Nook: Guest Post and Giveaway with Dr. Laura Maciuika, author of Conscious Calm

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Guest Post and Giveaway with Dr. Laura Maciuika, author of Conscious Calm

Hi, everyone!

I am pleased to participate in Dr. Laura Maciuika's Conscious Calm Virtual Book Publicity Tour hosted by Pump Up Your Book.

About Dr. Maciuika:

Dr. Laura Maciuika is a clinical psychologist and transformation mentor who has been bridging realities her entire life. Raised by Lithuanian parents, she spoke mainly Lithuanian at home and English outside. Visiting Lithuania as a child, a student, and later as a psychologist and teacher, helped her learn how to move between world views, expanding her own as she supported other psychologists and teachers in broadening theirs. She began graduate school at the same time she started her training in mindfulness and meditation practices, and combined psychology training with studies in energy healing modalities. Her deep interest in transformation led to a dissertation on profound, transformative learning, and to ongoing study of inner healing and transformation practices from around the world.

Dr. Maciuika’s has worked in community mental health, schools, as a clinical supervisor and administrator, as a Lecturer and Adjunct professor, and as a workshop leader and speaker on topics including stress management, trauma and healing, and energy psychology including EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques). Dr. Maciuika continues to combine world views and modalities in her mission to provide practical information to people seeking freedom from stress and old internal patterns that no longer serve them. Dr. Maciuika sees individual clients in her Integrative Psychotherapy practice in northern California, and also writes and teaches about inner freedom and transforming your life to the next level of success and happiness.

CONNECT WITH DR. MACIUIKA ONLINE:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Blog

Welcome to Darlene's Book Nook, Dr. Maciuika!

Dr. Maciuika has written a guest post, so I will now turn the floor over to her.

Easing Into the Day
by Dr. Laura Maciuika

Do you know the most important few moments of the entire day, one of the times when you’re at your most powerful? The very first minutes as you are waking up. That might sound odd, since as we’re just waking up we are still sleepy, still in between waking and sleeping realms. But it’s true. Know why?

As we are waking up and coming into full consciousness after sleep, it’s the first time of day when we reach our first choice point. For many people it’s not even something they consider - how is that a choice point? For most people it’s obvious what’s next: getting out of bed, heading for the morning bathing rituals and breakfast, or walking the dog, or just getting dressed and dashing out the door to work. The usual routine.

Yet we do have one choice first thing in the morning that we may not notice: that choice is, where we put our attention. For example, as soon as you’re more fully awake, where does your attention go? Do you tend to start thinking about the tasks for the day? Or wondering whether your partner or children are still asleep or not? Or on what happened yesterday that was either wonderful, or terrible? Those are all choices; it’s just that for most people, those choices are made on a kind of autopilot, as if they are not a choice at all.

For greater ease in the morning, see if you can dial up your awareness just a bit in the morning. When you notice more clearly where you’re used to putting your attention, see if it serves you. How do you end up feeling if you tend to think about the problems coming up in the day? How does your perhaps automatic self talk actually sound and feel to you?

We have the choice every morning to be more aware and pro-active about where we put out attention. When we dial up our awareness, we are immediately at choice. We can choose again, and choose to ease into our day a little more. We can choose self-talk that is a little more kind, or less rushed, or more peaceful, or all of the above. We can choose to stretch the body and breathe more deeply as we ease into the morning. We might choose to notice something we’re grateful for, or something that helps us connect with happiness.

We have the choice to ease into our day a little more every morning, even on busy days. How might you ease into your morning tomorrow?

Thanks so much for joining us today, Dr. Maciuika!

One lucky winner will win a paperback copy of Conscious Calm.

This giveaway is open to Canada/US addresses only.

Stressed out? There is plenty of real external stress, sure, and a serious stress epidemic going on. Then there is what we do on the inside, often without even realizing it. Conscious Calm focuses on the internal patterns of stress creation we may not even notice, and describes how to get free of these patterns for good to find lasting calm.

Integrating psychology and neuroscience, and combining practical wisdom from both East and West, Dr. Laura Maciuika explains the inner stress traps that so many of us fall into. She reveals 9 Stress Secrets that can keep us stuck in cycles of feeling more and stress, and describes 9 Keys to Conscious Calm and simple, step by step ways to use them for lasting stress relief, deeper calm, and greater happiness.

To enter the giveaway, please fill out the Rafflecopter entry form below.

This giveaway is open to entrants from Canada and the United States only until 12:01 AM EST on April 12, 2012.

a Rafflecopter giveaway