Illuminated Soul with Craig Westhoff

You won't believe what a counselor friend of mine declared in the middle of a counseling session with one of his clients!  At first the client was offended, and then liberated.  Often times that is the case.  Get ready to experience a simple and powerful practice to benefit your emotional, mental and spiritual health and well-being!

What if much of our emotional and mental pain and torment that we can experience in life is simply due to us not letting God love us just as we are?  

God is always present, but if I'm honest, I can often feel like and even believe the lie that He's not.  Together, let's learn to acknowledge God's "hidden" presence.  

Today I have for you a power packed one-word prayer to help us meet the moment as it is instead of resist it and incur emotional and mental anguish.

We are an easily forgetful people.  Depression, anxiety, being emotionally overwhelmed can cause us to become forgetful; forgetful of God's constant presence and action within us.  In this episode I share a simple practice I like to call The Ancient Art of Remembering!

There is a primary teaching Jesus has given us that is designed to keep us in the present moment, avoid wounding our souls, and keeping peace of mind.  On one hand it's simple.  On the other hand it's extremely challenging!  But with God... all things are possible!

Remember the previous episode about our emotional programs for happiness?  THIS episode features one practice to help free ourselves from the grip of these programs. It's simpler than you think, and will be more challenging than you realize ;-)

Where do you go to and what do you find yourself doing when you feel a lack of peace and happiness?  There is a deep drive in all of us to ensure we remain peaceful and happy.  And that deep drive is something we are often unaware of.  It's like a hidden program that kicks in to gear to direct us to what we want.  Today, let's become aware of these emotional programs for happin...

Mornings can be rough at times.  Honestly, I can find myself often waking up to a swirl of thoughts, fears, faulty narratives, and the pressure to pull myself together and get with it.  If you can relate, enjoy this short morning mediation that can help center ourselves before we go about our day.

There is a guarantee that distress, anxiety and sorrow will be unavoidable if we ignore a key aspect of self-awareness.  Want to keep your soul from distress?  Then keep an eye, and ear, on this. 

What if some of the emotional and mental angst we can experience in life is due to the feeling that we should be somewhere else by now?  Let's address this Arrival Fallacy and learn to lighten up and relax!

Enjoy this meditation to help us adopt a better pace: the pace of nature; the pace of God.

What if some of the frustration in taking every thought captive to obey Christ is in the method we use in taking that very thought captive?  The frustration comes from force.  There is a better way!

Let's admit it.  It's easy to hold a grudge.  It even feels good.  But the damage it does to our own souls can be devastating.  Let's discover what a grudge is in the first place and how we can better manage this habitual response.

Here's a simple and grounding question to ask ourselves when we are emotionally overwhelmed.  Calm is closer than you think!

Frustration, and many other negative emotional sensations, are built upon unmet expectations.  We are a people of expectation, but often times unaware of this reality. Let's learn how to properly respond to unmet expectations and hold on to hope!

How often I can find myself out of sorts just because I want something.  We don't have to wrestle with want and these 3 questions just may help you and me untangle ourselves from the choke hold that want can put on us.

The very means of peace that the world offers is through a system designed to actually work against your soul's health.  Becoming aware of the Empty P's that we habitually gravitate towards will help us become aware of the true peace we have in Christ.

The role of trust is foundational to our emotional, mental and spiritual health and well-bring.  May this simple call and response/meditation help us let go and trust Jesus more.  

Often times it's the questions that help us understand more than the answers do.  If you're emotionally overwhelmed and looking for the right answers, maybe it's best to look for the right questions. Today, we look at 2 unique questions that can serve us well!

It happens to the best of us: reacting out of a negative internal narrative that we create in our minds.  On today's episode, I share 5 questions that can help us engage and unravel that negative narrative, and invite a healthier view of reality.  

How are you with facing change?  In this episode, Craig leads us through a simple meditation and some questions for self-reflection to help us embrace the inevitablity of change, and respond well to the opportunity of growth that it provides.

Anxious?  Worrisome?  Stressed?  Just do this!  It's simple.  It's free.  And it works!  

In Jesus, what if an invitation we have extended to us as humans is to increase in awareness so that we may consciously respond well to life instead of unconsciously react?   In this episode Craig unpacks the meaning of this incredible invitation that we can easily forget to accept.

In this episode, Craig features another tool we can put into practice when letting go seems challenging.