Tag Archives: Life Leadership

Calming Your Mind – Easy to Do Meditation Tips

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Calming Your Mind – Easy To Do Meditation Tips

A wonderful way to clear the mind of the stresses and worries of the day is via Meditation. Some people have preconceived notions of meditation being difficult and think “How in the world do I have time to sit and MEDITATE every day?”. However, with some practice and intentionality, you will find that taking time to meditate is not hard at all.

Tips on how to start your meditative practice

What’s one of the hardest parts about developing a meditative practice? Hint: I mentioned it in the paragraph above – Intentionality! In fact, the hardest part has nothing at all to do with actually meditating.

The key is to JUST. GET. STARTED. Once you start to see the power in meditating and the results it brings you, it becomes habit. You will begin to intentionally carve out time to meditate regularly. Starting out may be tough because forming a new habit can be, but remember to get started and stay consistent. It takes 21 days to form a new habit!

Set a goal of meditating daily for at least 4 weeks- remember, it takes 21 days to form a new habit, but I suggest you push yourself a bit further and go for 4 weeks! Once you get to the end of the 4 weeks, evaluate the process and whether the meditation has made a difference for you

Try these meditation tips below:

1.    Decide on a consistent time every day to meditate. Start with small time periods – 15 min in the beginning. As the weeks move on, shoot for 20-30 min daily. Many people find that setting aside this time right as they wake up in the morning or before they go to bed at night works for them. I like to close my eyes and meditate at my desk during lunch. Whatever time you choose, make it a priority.

2.    Mediate in a chair or if you choose the floor, that’s fine too. I would personally refrain from lying down to meditate. Lying down signals “sleep” to our bodies. Try not to slouch, either. Rest your hands in your lap and pay attention to the feeling of the chair, floor, etc you are sitting in or on. 

3.    Direct your attention to your breath. Focus on your breathing in and out….in and out……in and out. Really pay attention to your breathing. One thing I always do with my patients when I’m administering injections or performing any procedures that may be painful is to have the patient focus on their breathing…”Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.” Imagine breathing IN good energy and breathing OUT the bad energy with each cycle. Focus on making those breaths long, deep breaths

4.    Your mind will likely wander and that’s ok. Allow those thoughts and then let them fade away. As well as you can, refocus your attention on your breathing.

5.    Meditation should definitely relax you  – too relaxed and you will likely fall asleep. Resist the urge to sleep. Fight the urge to sleep. Maintaining that good posture helps. 

6.    Stay consistent. Set an alarm to remind you to meditate or write it in your daily planner or on a sticky note. Once mediating becomes a habit, it will likely not feel like a chore. There will certainly be days that get so hectic that you may skip meditating in a formal sense, but consistency will allow it to become second nature. When I get overwhelmed looking at a full email inbox daily, I literally take my hands off my keyboard, close my eyes and breathe deeply in what I like to think of as “mini meditation sessions”.

Meditation helps us focus, brings a peaceful perspective to our life and relieves stress. It is used to energize as well as relax, motivate and bring calm. Our brains take in A LOT of information daily – treat it to a break and be rewarded with the benefits meditation brings!

Dr. Carmen April

Dr. Carmen April is an entrepreneur, community leader, and living enthusiast. For over 20 years, Dr. April has been leading teams and empowering others to design their lives with intention. She’s been recognized as a 2021 Junior League of Nashville Outstanding Active of the Year Paragon Award recipient, 2020 Nashville Business Journal Women of Influence Award Recipient, Nashville Emerging Leader (NELA) Award Winner, a Nashville Business Journal Top 40 Under Forty Award Recipient, is a Graduate of the New Leaders Council Institute – Nashville Chapter, Young Leaders Council (YLC) Leadership Institute and is a Nashville Power Moves Award Winner. She is a Podiatrist and Owner of The Foot And Ankle Healthcare Center in the Nashville area. She’s a Reiki Master, a Law of Attraction Practitioner, and an advocate for the power of positive thinking. Dr. April is available for speaking engagements on Life Leadership for College Students and Young Professionals and is the creator of the “Design Your Story” Women’s Empowerment Series.

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Start With Heart

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Start with Heart

Start with heart

I recently came across an interesting article written by Anthony K. Tjan in the Harvard Business Review about entrepreneurship. As a full-time entrepreneur, I’m always reading stories, articles, blogs, and listening to podcasts about entrepreneurship. I love to know what makes people tick, but there’s something with learning about the stories of other entrepreneurs that really interests me!

In doing research for a book he was working on, Tjan and his colleagues interviewed several entrepreneurs who had a successful exit from their business (as in IPO or sale to another firm) and discovered that about 70% of them did NOT start with a formal business plan! Tjan says this: “Instead, their business journeys originated in a different place, a place we call the Heart. They were conceived not with a document but with a feeling and doing for an authentic vision. Clarity of purpose and passion ruled the day with less time spent writing about an idea and more time spent just doing it.”

I can 100% see that being the case. Before I started my medical practice, when it was just an idea in my mind, I heard everyone telling me that I needed a formal, written business plan. So writing a long 60+ business plan is what I did! The financial figures I included weren’t really accurate because I didn’t know how much it would ACTUALLY cost and how much I would ACTUALLY generate in revenue until I was in the thick of it. What drove my business in those early years was HEART and full dedication to making my business successful……. NOT the formal business plan.

I encourage your to check out Tjan’s full Harvard Business Review article HERE and tell me what you think……..

Dr. Carmen April           Dr. Carmen April is an entrepreneur and community leader recognized as a Nashville Emerging Leader (NELA) Award Winner, a Nashville Business Journal Top 40 Under Forty Award Recipient, is a Graduate of the New Leaders Council Institute – Nashville Chapter and is a 2018 Nashville Power Moves Award Winner. She is a Podiatrist and Owner of The Foot And Ankle Healthcare Center, PC in the Nashville area. She is a Reiki Master, a Law of Attraction Practitioner, and an advocate for the power of positive thinking! Dr. April is available for speaking engagements on Leadership & Life Leadership for College Students and Young Professionals and is the creator of the “Design Your Story” Women’s Empowerment Series.

Feel Into Your Future

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Feel Into Your Future

Positive vibes

          I talk a lot here on the blog about how our words have power and that we have the power, through our thoughts and the words we speak, to improve our lives and have those things and experiences we desire! Words have power, but so do our FEELINGS!

          When you are desiring something intensely, you are simultaneously sending out the vibrations of what you desire into the Universe. When you can imagine yourself feeling, having, and acting as if what you desire is already a part of your reality, you are working to bring that to fruition!

          Every morning when I wake up, a couple of the first things I repeat over and over to myself are “I expect great news today!” “My dreams and desires are met today!” and “I am a money magnet!” Not only do I say these things repeatedly, but I FEEL them as if they are my reality!

          Before I was on solid financial footing in my business, one of the dreams and desires I declared being met everyday was that my medical practice become profitable. I repeated the phrase “I AM a Money Magnet” and really felt it to be true everyday (even before it was lol)! Soon, the manifestation of this came to fruition before the normal 5 years that statistics say it takes a business to be profitable and I started making more money in my business than I ever had!

          Before I met my husband, one of “My dreams and desires are met today” was to meet the man of my dreams and become a wonderful wife. I would repeat, over and over – “I am a wonderful wife. I am a wonderful wife. I am a wonderful wife” and FEEL as if I already was a wonderful wife. I used this phrase, and the emotion that came with it, to day-dream about being married and feeling it into existence. ****I should also make very clear that I coupled this practice daily with much prayer and tremendous faith to deliver the perfect husband for me! 2015 has been the year that my husband and I started dating, got engaged and got married!

          Try it for yourself and see…it really works! The positive, joyous emotions you conjure up “feeling” those things you desire can literally bring them into existence. Make time to sit down with those positive emotions for at least 5-10 minutes every day and imagine how great it would feel to already have those things you desire. Start today to FEEL into your Future!

Dr Carmen April Speaker          Dr. Carmen April is an entrepreneur and community leader recognized as a 2014 Nashville Emerging Leader Award (NELA) Winner, a 2013 Nashville Business Journal Top 40 Under Forty Award Recipient and is a 2014 Graduate of the New Leaders Council Institute – Nashville Chapter.  Dr. April is available for speaking engagements on Leadership for College Students and Young Professionals.

You can follow her daily #Leadership insights on Twitter @DrCarmenApril

Manifest Your Dreams & Desires

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Manifest Your Dreams & Desires

Manifesting My Dreams

Do you know that you posses the power to Manifest your dreams??!! Yes, you do! You really, really do!

          When you truly believe in your dreams, focus on what you desire, get clear about EXACTLY what you want and have faith during the processes of allowing it to manifest, you can have those things.

          One of the most important things to remember when it comes to Manifesting your dreams is believing. When I say believing, I mean really believing –  without a shadow of a doubt – that your dreams, those things you want to do and have to share light and love with the world, will come to fruition! And not only that they will simply manifest, but they will manifest in a magnificent way to add Joy to the World and love in your community and circle of influence.

          Personal Affirmation from my own life —> Let’s take the story of Joshua in the Bible. When Joshua needed to defeat his enemies in a battle to get closer to seeing the Promise Land, he knew he had to be bold, he had to be courageous and so he prayed a very powerful prayer that he had faith God would deliver on. Joshua knew that once the sun went down it would be difficult for him to see and defeat his enemies. It was at that time that Joshua prayed to God to allow the sun to stand still in the sky long enough to allow him to see and defeat his enemies. Joshua’s faith moved God to stop the sun in the sky when it should have gone down and thus allowed Joshua to defeat the enemy and win the battle! Now, do I believe the sun literally stopped in the sky that day – absolutely not. This is a story meant to encourage us and have crazy faith in our ability to bring things forward into our lives.

          This same power assures me that when I get clear on what I am requesting, and believe without doubting, I will see my dreams come to fruition.

          The cool thing is that I’ve seen it happen sooooooo many times in my own life that I’m certain of it without even having to look anywhere else for confirmation!

          When I was just 2 years old, my parents gave me my first toy doctor’s kit for Christmas, I’ve always said I wanted to be a doctor and truly believed, no matter what, that I would be a doctor “when I grow up” lol. My dream became a reality when, at just 26 years old, I become a doctor!!

          Not only did that dream of becoming a doctor manifest for me, but the vision of owning my very own medical practice manifested earlier than I ever thought possible!

           Additionally, I discovered that my true purpose in life is to Uplift, Encourage and Inspire. Not only do I do this via treating patients as a doctor, teaching and encouraging other entrepreneurs through being an entrepreneur myself, but I now reach and encourage people all over the country via my Leadership Speaking and all over the world through this platform!

          I believe now, more than ever, in the Power of Manifesting my Dreams! I’ve seen it happen in my own life too many times to count and I’ve seen in happen for others in mighty ways!

Dr Carmen April Speaker          Dr. Carmen April is an entrepreneur and community leader recognized as a 2014 Nashville Emerging Young Leader Award Winner, a 2013 Nashville Business Journal Top 40 Under Forty Award Recipient and is a 2014 Graduate of the New Leaders Council Institute – Nashville Chapter.  Dr. April is available for speaking engagements on Entrepreneurship and Life Leadership for College Students and Young Professionals.

Choose to See Peace Instead

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Choose to See Peace Instead

Choose Peace Nashville Life Coach

          There are bound to be countless things that happen around you everyday that you have no control over. You can’t control how other people think or what they say, you can’t control the traffic jam that happened on the interstate, and you can’t control the fact that Chick-Fil-A ran out of Waffle fries lol! However, you most certainly have full control over how you respond to various situations. You can choose to react with negative energy or positive energy. You can choose to think ugly thoughts about people and circumstances around you that annoy your or you can choose to see Peace instead.

          The phrase that I use quite often when I am feeling my energy shift into a negative trajectory because of circumstances outside of my control is simple but Powerful:

I CHOOSE TO SEE PEACE INSTEAD

          I say this over and over to myself, quietly or out-loud, until I start to feel my energy tip the scales back into the positive direction. Your words and actions reflect your inner feelings and thoughts so if you convince yourself to see peace instead, that is exactly what will happen and you remain in control!!

          Try this the next time you become frazzled by something that happens out of your control and remember that the ball is in your court when it comes to deciding your response to it!

Dr Carmen April Speaker          Dr. Carmen April is an entrepreneur and community leader recognized as a 2014 Nashville Emerging Young Leader Award Winner, a 2013 Nashville Business Journal Top 40 Under Forty Award Recipient and is a 2014 Graduate of the New Leaders Council Institute – Nashville Chapter.  Dr. April is available for speaking engagements on Entrepreneurship and Life Leadership for College Students and Young Professionals.

Keep Moving Forward

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Keep Moving Forward

Keep moving , Life Coach, Nashville Life Coach

          I post this today to encourage any of you who may feel “stuck” in any area of your life. I’ve certainly been there plenty of times before and will undoubtedly experience it in the future. However, the thing to remember when you feel stuck is to just keep moving. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep moving!

          When I first went off to college, my mom gave me a plaque that had a quote written on it that I will never forget. It says this: “You may not always know the details of your journey or clearly see where your path is leading, but God will always give you enough light to take the next step.” (I’ve actually posted it here on my blog before! It’s a powerful quote which is why I’ve never forgotten it !)

          One step forward leads to another, which leads to another, which leads to another, and pretty soon you will look back and see how far you’ve traveled simply because you had Faith to take the next step and Keep Moving Forward!

            It’s kind of like driving a car in the dark at night. You can only see as far as your headlights allow you to see. However, as long as you just keep on driving, you can make it hundreds of miles and arrive at your destination safely!

Dr Carmen April Speaker          Dr. Carmen April is an entrepreneur and community leader recognized as a 2014 Nashville Emerging Young Leader Award Winner, a 2013 Nashville Business Journal Top 40 Under Forty Award Recipient and is a 2014 Graduate of the New Leaders Council Institute – Nashville Chapter.  Dr. April is available for speaking engagements on Entrepreneurship for College Students and Young Professionals.

You can follow her daily #Leadership insights on Twitter @DrCarmenApril

Seed. Time. Harvest.

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Seed. Time. Harvest.

Seed time harvest

          Seed. Time. Harvest is a pretty cool concept to use when talking about FAITH……FAITH that our dreams and desires will manifest for us!

❐ When you are making a request for something you desire to the Universe/God/Spiritual Guide you must 1st get very clear on what you want and then confidently asking for it – You are planting your SEED.

❐ The 2nd step is undoubtedly the hardest because it is a period of waiting/TIME/being patient. It’s a period of time that is out of our control. Albert Einstein once said that “time is but an illusion.”

          You see, we operate on Chronos time. Chronos is where the word “Chronological Time” is derived. Ex – 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in a minute. 365 days per year. However, our Spirit Guide operates in Kairos time which is very different. Kairos time refers to an appointed time, an opportune moment, or a due season. Kairos time occurs irrespective of Chronos time but is always “right on time”!

          We tend to be impatient and human nature desires that we have what we want when we want it….which is usually right now! However, mastering patience and continuing to stay positive during the “time” part of this algorithm is the key to having a positive outlook on manifesting your dreams and desires.

          A phrase that I’ve heard my mom say from time to time is this …..”just keep living and you’ll learn to trust Him!” There are going to be plenty of these “Seed. Time. Harvest.” opportunities you will experience over the course of your lifetime. Even though the “Time” aspect is usually never comfortable, it is necessary for the processes.

          You can’t plant an apple seed one day and expect a fully grown tree bearing fruit the next day. It doesn’t happen like that. The seed must undergo a process of maturing under just the right conditions to eventually form a thriving Apple Tree – this takes time. The more you learn to trust the “Time” processes, the happier you will be!

❐ The 3rd step is Harvest! This is the part we all try to fast-forward to – receiving that thing/those things we have asked for! This is the stuff dreams and desires are made of – the actualization of them coming true!

          This is the process and there is no way around it. Another way that this phrase has been stated is –> Ask. Believe. Receive. Different words – same concept!

Ask Believe receive

          My advice – become REALLY, REALLY dedicated to praying and meditating your way through the “Time/Believe” part of it and leave the “How” your dreams and Desires will manifest up to the Supreme Authority who knows how to best deliver it to you at the perfect time. Spirit Guide can figure it out much better than you can any day of the week!

Be Blessed!

Dr Carmen April Speaker          Dr. Carmen April is an entrepreneur and community leader recognized as a 2014 Nashville Emerging Young Leader Award Winner, a 2013 Nashville Business Journal Top 40 Under Forty Award Recipient and is a 2014 Graduate of the New Leaders Council Institute – Nashville Chapter.  Dr. April is available for speaking engagements on Entrepreneurship for College Students and Young Professionals.

Stay Open to Love

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Stay Open to Love

Miracle is on its way

           Love is our highest Power! It is limitless and we can freely give it to everyone and everything we see, encounter and think about! We have the power to sprinkle everything we see and think of on a daily basis with love…….and we will never run out of having more love to give! I LOVE that 🙂 !!!!!

          Love is positive energy that, when shared with others, comes back to us Multiplied!! Miracles will , no doubt, manifest when we choose to follow this great principle.

The more we give, the more we receive!

Dr Carmen April Speaker          Dr. Carmen April is an entrepreneur and community leader recognized as a 2014 Nashville Emerging Young Leader Award Winner, a 2013 Nashville Business Journal Top 40 Under Forty Award Recipient and is a 2014 Graduate of the New Leaders Council Institute – Nashville Chapter.  Dr. April is available for speaking engagements on Entrepreneurship and Life Leadership for College Students and Young Professionals.

Fantasize!

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Fantasize!

fantacy

          When I was a kid, I fantasized all the time about what I would be when I grew up, I fantasized that my baby dolls were members of my family and we would go on amazing adventures together, and about going on trips to Paris, London and imaginary places such as Portebello Road as in one of my favorite movies, Bed Knobs and Broomsticks!!!

          **Note: I always fantasized about being a doctor when I “grew up” and treated my stuffed animals….and my younger brother and sister (LOL)…..like my patients! This is one of the many dreams I fantasized about as a child that came true!!! 🙂

          When we talk about manifesting things in our lives, it’s important that we get in the right mindset and on the right energy vibration through positive thinking to attract those things we want into our lives. A really important component of manifesting your dreams and desires is imagining them and feeling them happening at the PRESENT time…as if they were so, right now! A great way to do this is to FANTASIZE about those dreams and desires and imagine them happening in your present reality!

          I recently got engaged to my totally awesome fiance, Lionel! For so long I have prayed for my husband every day (since I was 20 years old), but it wasn’t until I got very, very clear about about the true desires of my heart and started imagining myself being married, that my fiance showed up into my life and soon after asked me to be his wife!!! ***Note: Our love story gives me butterflies every time I think about it and I will share that soon in another post 🙂

          Note that I said that I imagined myself BEING MARRIED, not dating, not “playing house”, not having a friend to hang out with, not a man to be an emotional space and time filler, but having a HUSBAND and being MARRIED. In my mind, I imagined, fantasized and dreamed of myself as the perfect wife to my husband before I even knew who he was. You see – my audacious faith attracted him into my life. My positive vibes of LOVE on a consistent basis attracted him into my life. My daily affirmation of “My Dreams and Desires are met today” attracted him into my life! Not only did my fiance show up, but he showed up as every desire of my heart that I specifically wrote down in letter to God prior to the beginning of our relationship!

          Always dreamed of taking a trip to Paris?? Purchase a poster of the Eiffel Tower and place it on your fridge or wall in your home. Imagine that you are there standing right in front of the Eiffel Tower. Imagine the sounds of people speaking French in the background, the smell of fresh croissants floating down the street from the corner cafe. Get the picture?? Fantasize. Fantasize. Fantasize about it until your vision becomes reality! (Can you tell that this is one of the trips I’m working on manifesting one day soon? lol)

Fantasize as much as you need to in order to conjure up the feeling of having what you want right now!

Dr Carmen April Speaker          Dr. Carmen April is an entrepreneur and community leader recognized as 2014 Nashville Emerging Leader Award (NELA) Winner, a 2013 Nashville Business Journal Top 40 Under Forty Award Recipient and is a 2014 Graduate of the New Leaders Council Institute – Nashville Chapter.  Dr. April is available for speaking engagements on Entrepreneur and Life Leadership for College Students and Young Professionals.

Let’s Start Thinking Positively!

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Let’s Start Thinking Positively!

Words have power

          On my first post for 2015, I mentioned that a huge part of being a leader in career and community is first learning how to be a leader over our own lives and affairs – taking charge of our thoughts, feelings, actions and the words we speak. It involves creating a positive playground for our thoughts. It’s important to train our minds to #ThinkPositive thoughts because our thoughts become or words and our actions. Our actions become our habits. Our habits become our destiny!

          When we think positive thoughts and really practice FEELING positivity, our life reflects it! The opposite is true for those people who always think negative, speak negatively, complain non-stop and look at most situations in a negative way. Word to the wise —-> You can not expect to live a prosperous, positive life if you are always thinking negatively!

We become what we consistently think about and feel about! Trust me on this…..It’s The Law of Attraction.

          If you pour out positivity into the universe, more positivity will return to you – multiplied! If you constantly pour out negativity into the universe, more negativity will return to you – multiplied!

          I’m attracted to positivity! It makes me light up….it feels good! Before I even step foot out of bed every morning, I meditate and tell myself how great of a day I plan to have and I declare it to be so! This practice of meditation was not always the case for me. About a year ago, I really started to notice the energy shift I would experience from being bombarded by the negativity on the television news and negativity on social media (Some people on Facebook and Twitter make me have to go to my prayer closet after seeing their posts of criticism and negativity every day lol!!! I’ve removed a lot of folks from my Facebook news feed or deleted them from Facebook and Twitter all together because of this.)

          You may be wondering, “Isn’t everyone attracted to positivity?”. No, not exactly. There is a psychology concept called “Negativity Bias” which states that we processes negative data more quickly than positive data. We have a natural tendency to lean toward the negative than the positive. Emotionally, we go to greater lengths to avoid a bad mood than experience a good one. Negative events are contagious. There is countless amounts of research done on this phenomenon and books thicker than the largest textbook you read in school on this subject so I’m obviously not going to dive too deep into it here. I state it here to drive home the point that even though negative thoughts don’t feel good, it’s really easy to drift into that mind space.

          However, we can train our minds to seek positivity over the negativity, positivity over the fear, positivity over the anxiety, positivity over the judgement.

          For the untrained mind, it actually takes a lot of energy to think positively. However, I want to encourage you to start training your mind TODAY to see the positive more than the negative. When you think, feel and speak positively more than you do negatively, you have tipped the scales in your favor to allow more positivity to flow into your life!

          Since I’ve deleted a lot of the ‘negativity carriers’ off of my social media accounts, I love to go to Facebook and Twitter first thing in the morning and flood my soul with positive quotes and affirmations from people who like to share positivity as much as I do!

          I invite you to come here everyday for a dose of positivity in the form of some quotes and concepts that I use to encourage myself daily!

Enjoy!

Dr Carmen April Speaker          Dr. Carmen April is an entrepreneur and community leader recognized as a 2014 Nashville Emerging Leader Award (NELA) Winner, a 2013 Nashville Business Journal Top 40 Under Forty Award Recipient and is a 2014 Graduate of the New Leaders Council Institute – Nashville Chapter.  Dr. April is available for speaking engagements on Entrepreneurship and Life Leadership for College Students and Young Professionals.