Self-Discovery

Death Changes You to Live Well

~ jodiheisz ~ 2 Comments

“The life you have left is a gift. Cherish it. Enjoy it now, to the fullest. Do what matters, now.”

― Leo Babauta

It was a clear and sunny spring day. The sky was bright with gentle blue gradients falling from the heavens to the earth. Two worlds colliding together creating a sense of peace and harmony bringing serenity to the hustle and bustle of the morning. 

But the tranquility of the moment came to a halt. The hospice nurse called me while I was at work. Before she spoke her first word, I knew why she called.

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Live Lightly and Peacefully

~ jodiheisz ~ 3 Comments

“Nothing can dim the light that shines from within.”
— Maya Angelou

Now is the time of year when we create our goals and resolutions for the new year. We set SMART goals created in detail with deadlines marked in our calendars. We create our vision boards to help visualize our dreams and desires. We enlist our accountability partners to make sure we stay on track and don’t lose focus.

All these are great things, and I encourage you to use those techniques. I do as well. But what if for the new year, we make a conscious effort to live peacefully and lightly. Choose letting go of the baggage in your life weighing you down with the intent of creating peace and joy.

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Finding Joy

~ jodiheisz ~ 1 Comment

I don’t know about you, but I am finding it hard to find joy with how crazy the world is. Every time I turn on the news, I hear something traumatic creating anxiety and frustration. I feel hopeless with current events allowing it to steal my inner joy.

Many of us, including myself, turn towards materialism and worldly success as distraction hoping it will find the joy we have lost. But this is not the path to long-term joy and happiness.

When you use material things or accomplishments to make you happy, it’s only temporary. The truth is happiness comes from within. When you choose to find happiness within yourself, it’s long-lasting. Nothing external can bring lasting joy. If you wait until the tragedies of the world dissipate before you find happiness, you will be waiting forever.

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Turn Pain Into Power

~ jodiheisz ~ 5 Comments

Not one of us escapes pain living in this world. Experiencing trauma, pain, disappointment, and loss is a part of being human. It’s inevitable.

When you’re in swirling in chaos and being swallowed by darkness, it’s hard to understand you will get through to the other side. It seems too impossible to comprehend or believe one day your pain will go away and happiness will appear.

But no matter difficult things are, you always have a choice. This pain you are experiencing is bringing you to a crossroad.

You can take the road to the left and walk the path of resentment, self-destruction, and victimization.

Or you can take the road to the right and walk the path of healing, empowerment, and transformation.

The choice is yours.

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Lost, But Never Gone

~ jodiheisz ~ 3 Comments

For the past few months, I’ve been feeling…lost. My sense of who I am vanished making me a stranger to myself. I thought I knew who I was moving forward in a specific direction towards my goals. But then out of nowhere, I was thrown way off path leaving me disorientated, unsettled and bewildered.

Have you ever felt lost and out of touch with yourself? Have you felt you were on the “right” path but then suddenly went astray moving into unknown territory? You knew for sure where you were going and where you were headed but unexpectedly, you veered way off course.

It’s unnerving and upsetting being lost in a chaotic and distressed world. Especially when you thought you knew where you were going. The notion to choose our destination and stay on track no matter what is drilled into us. Don’t get distracted. Don’t move your eyes from the prize. And heaven forbid, don’t look backwards. You are expected to keep driving down the road you started on at all costs. 

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How Martial Arts Transformed Me

~ jodiheisz ~ 11 Comments

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It’s been a few months since my last post. But, for a great reason. On November 3, I tested for 5th Dan Master Black Belt in KiMudo. I’ve been martial arts for over 22 years so this test was a big deal! I needed lots of practice, dedicated focus and a crazy amount of energy to accomplish this goal.

KiMudo is a martial art comprised of Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Hapki-Do, self-defense techniques and various weapons. We lovingly call it the “traditional mixed martial arts.” For my test, it was required I write a resume of my accomplishments. Instead a boring resume, I wrote about how martial arts transformed my life. I wanted to share this with you and hopefully it will inspire you to transform your life too.


Jodi Heisz 5th Dan Resume

For my 5th Dan resume, I could give you a long list of accomplishments, rewards, and certificates earned during my martial arts career. I could tell you about how I achieved all my black belts in KiMudo, my black belt in judo, winning big, shiny trophies at tournament, being a judge, sitting on the testing board for both color and black belt tests, and more.

Yes, all are great accomplishments I’m proud of.

But you know what? At the end of the day, none of these matters.

There’s quote on Facebook I have liked and shared by Kaci Diane describing my biggest accomplishment in martial arts.

“I love the person I have become, because I fought to become her.”

To me, that’s what matters most.

The transformation I’ve experienced throughout my 22 years of martial arts means more than any trophy I’ve won or any belt I’ve earned. Becoming the best version of myself to lead a more positive and peaceful life with compassion for others including myself, is the center of my martial arts career. It’s what keeps me coming back to Dojang day after day, week after week, year after year.

Today, I am sharing with you three personal achievements that changed my life most.

  1. Self-confidence and belief
  2. Cultivating friendships through martial arts
  3. Becoming a leader to inspire others

Self-confidence and Belief
Master Bob Perk reminds me most students who come to martial arts are broken and searching for a better way, a better life. I know this is true because when I started martial arts in 1995, I was very broken. Probably…  the most broken of all.

Students and black belts today see Jodi filled with strength, confidence and smiling all the time. They don’t know the depths of darkness I originally came from. Back then, I was a much different person than I am today. Most don’t know the dark places I came from, and the deep trenches I climbed out of to see the light. I was desperate searching for a better way, a better life. To be whole. Healed. And feel worthy.

My confidence on a scale of 1-10 was off the charts on the low end. Scared to spar, feared falling, afraid to speak or teach in front of a crowd, petrified of throwing or being thrown, etc. I remember Master Perk telling me repeatedly, “Be more aggressive!” I wasn’t aggressive because I didn’t believe I had the chops to be successful, to rock it and be great both in and outside the Dojang. I thought I didn’t deserve it because I felt unworthy.

Slowly over the years, kick by kick, punch by punch, throw by throw, my confidence grew stronger, more powerful. The light always existing inside, but dim, was starting to shine bright. It was beginning to shine, because I believed I could shine. Instead of knowing I could be successful, I believed I was successful.

And now, I am unstoppable, determined, strong, capable, powerful, amazing, fearless, rocking it and … more aggressive. I am whole. Healed. And believe I am worthy.

Cultivating friendships through martial arts
One of my biggest achievements held dear in my heart are the friendships I’ve been blessed with through martial arts. I am honored to have met so many wonderful people from all walks of life, backgrounds, and ages.

But the friends I cherish the most, are my instructors Bob and Audrey Perk and my gals.

Masters Bob and Audrey Perk have been my rock and my foundation through many life’s challenges. They’ve supported and guided me through the good times and the bad. Without their encouragement and belief in me as a person, I wouldn’t be the woman I am standing here today. They taught more than martial arts. They taught me the value of family, friendships and how teamwork really does make your dream work. My hope is for me pay it forward and help someone else one day like they have helped me.

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Then, there’s my gals. We call ourselves, Audrey’s Angels. We’re kinda like martial arts gangsters… so we are.  A true sisterhood running deep, maybe deeper than blood related sisters. Life is better lived with true friends to share it with. Especially when you can kick each other in the head or throw one another on the ground. I don’t know many friends who would stand for that kind of treatment. But we do. Because we love martial arts. And because we love each other.

From that infamous night we’ll never forget, making Pauline walk 42 miles in Woodman’s to get my favorite blue chips,  bonding with my judo buddies during those ridiculous attempts to get “that throw” right, and to all who hugged me during my darkest moments. No words can describe how grateful I am to have their friendship.

Just like form Ka Chi says, “Go Together: Sharing the Journey of Life”.  To the share the journey of life with my martial arts family through the laughs, the cries and everything else in between, is my best award. Supporting and encouraging each other to be strong, powerful, connected, and awesome is a gift of a lifetime.

And I love them all for that.

Becoming a leader to inspire others
Anyone can learn to be a leader. But not anyone can attain a certain level of inspiration and compassion if they haven’t walked the steps themselves from darkness to light. Being an inspiring leader requires a glowing confidence with humility, integrity, joyfulness and little tough love.

After years of working towards building my confidence and restructuring my life, I’ve become a strong leader for my students. Taking what I’ve learned and the transformation occurred within has granted me with a different set of skills in teaching and guiding others. Nothing feels greater than passing down your knowledge to help your students change their lives for the better. The ability to empathize with those who are struggling because you once struggled, makes the difficult times of the past worth it.

20181127_185655[3285]One of my favorite teaching moments is when I won Black Belt Champion twice competing in the spring and fall tournaments. Last summer I set a goal to win that trophy. There were setbacks and challenges. But I never gave up on my goal. I visualized it every day, trained hard and consistently, and had friends to hold me accountable. With the power of goal setting and perseverance, I achieved my goal.

But it the end, winning black belt champion wasn’t about me. It was about teaching my students dreams can come true if you believe and do what it takes to make it happen. Being a leader who’s walked the path and inspires others become the best versions of themselves, is my dream come true.

Sisterhood Rocks…The Female Friendships Rule

~ jodiheisz ~ 2 Comments

20431237_10212243918727296_1571402650913900000_nThe power of female friendships (with the right gals) rocks.

We cry together when we are sad and dying deep in emotional pain.

We cry when seeing the pain on each other’s faces feeling it in our body like it’s our own.

We cry when we talk about the suffering and injustice of the world because we are compassionate, loving beings who believe in the value of humanity, peace and righteousness.

We laugh at one another’s sudden dumb moments (because we know we are smart 99% of the time).

We laugh at ourselves when being insane and ridiculous (we get crazy sometimes but that’s allowed every once in a while).

We laugh at each other’ jokes because we are hilarious (especially the inappropriate jokes for society’s standard for being women but who the hell cares… they are funny).

We laugh at asshole, idiot men (of course we do… because men can be asshole idiots. Not sorry guys).

We hug each other in praises of encouragement and give high-fives when we rock it.

We hug each other when a loving touch is needed to mend a broken heart and when we just…need a hug.

We give advice even when it’s not wanted because we want what’s best for our friends.

We ask for advice because we trust each other’s judgement and know we are smart, wise and honest.

We love each other kid’s like they are our own because we are family. The sisterhood friendships go deep in our blood and veins extending to our real blood family.

We almost went to jail that one, crazy night. If we keep it up…we still might…

The Sex and the City girls don’t hold a candle to who we are and our friendship. Hell, we are martial arts who kick, punch, fight, throw, arm bar and choke. Sorry Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte but we are the bad asses.

You listened to me for hours on end ranting, raving, whining, complaining, etc. Then again on the next day, the next week and so on. Ever since high school you never once you told me to shut up giving me what I needed…a trusted ear.

When I was down on my luck deep into emotional hole, a financial hole…hell I was one big, gaping hole, you treated to dinner making me feel special, loved and important.

If I am wearing an outfit I love but makes me look a stuffed Raggedy Ann doll busting at the seams, you tell me truth and to change clothes. Immediately. Now that’s true love.

You believe in me when I don’t. You tell me not to quit when I want to give up. You tell me the truth on how to improve, be better and to thrive.

You got my back, helping me stand straight and tall to move forward with confidence and grace.

You make me feel beautiful when I feel ugly and when my teeth don’t look right. You make me feel like I have a kick ass body even when I’m bloated looking like I’m six months pregnant.

You never judge, condemn or yell at me. But will tell me the hard-cold truth to save me from my mass destruction.

We stand together locking arms holding each other up to be strong, powerful and connected. We make each other feel safe to be who we truly are and to feel beautiful, sexy, hot, smart and fucking awesome.

And I love you all for that.

True Listening

~ jodiheisz ~ 1 Comment

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“Don’t die with your music still inside you. Listen to your intuitive inner voice and find what passion stirs your soul.”
– Wayne Dyer

Learning to truly listen to yourself is the key to living a spiritual and purposeful life. Cultivating the skill of deep listening with mindfulness will improve the quality of your relationships. But first, you must learn to listen to yourself.

With the spiritual practice of deep inner listening, you’ll develop heightened sensitivity of your body and soul. Over time you will learn and understand how they communicate to you. True, inner listening is a spiritual practice requiring dedication, compassion and awareness helping you move towards maturity and enlightenment.

True listening is hearing your heart and soul speaking to you, not the intellectual mind. This sacred voice are whispers of love and wisdom always knowing the truth about you. You won’t hear a loud booming voice or a neon sign, but instead a gentle, blowing sound.

The voice of your true self is a voice you can trust. Your soul wants what’s best for you and nothing less. It knows every part of your being and the desires of your heart to guide you on the right path. To listen, feel the vibration emanating from your heart and breathe deeply to become intimately connected to it.

When you have a burning question on your heart rolling around in your head, look within instead of the outside world. You’ll feel deep in the bones of your body and soul the answers to the questions you are seeking.

Don’t intellectualize, overthink, overanalyze or disregard what you receive. Feel the gentle nudges tugging at your gut allowing the truth to come forward. Invite your inner wisdom with open arms to embrace the truth being told with awareness, gratitude and compassion.

Listen to what your life is saying to you. When you do, you’ll realize your life has been speaking to you all along. You’ll see a pattern of certain desires that never go away. They keep popping up over and over again like a kid vying for your attention.

Most of the time these desires have been there since your childhood waiting for your undivided attention. The voice of your true self never dies or goes away. You only choose to ignore it or suppress the truth.

Once you start listening to you and become accustomed to it, you’ll learn to trust yourself. You’ll understand you have everything you need right now to be who you are.

To hear your soul speak, you must remove all distractions. Internet, news, social media, and well-meaning family and friends who think they know how you should live your life. It doesn’t matter whether the information or intent is good or bad.

This information is problematic because it distracts you from hearing your inner truth. Why do you need approval or validation from others when you know what’s true? You don’t because your path will be different from someone else’s path. If you don’t listen to you, you’ll end up living someone else’s story.

To listen to you, create a quiet space every day for just a few minutes. It could be a walk outside, turning the radio off in the car, or sitting in silence for five minutes before your family wakes up. The more comfortable you feel being alone in silence, the easier it gets to hear you. But to hear you, you must show up with presence and open awareness every day.

Sometimes when sitting in silence, your ego overpowers your soul speaking to you. If you allow it, the ego can control and dominant your mind preventing inner wisdom from coming through. When this happens, stop and be present. With awareness don’t judge or condemn these thoughts. Allow them to pass through with mindfulness and compassion.

By allowing it to pass, it will dissolve naturally. If you engage in the dialogue, you’ll give it power making it stronger. Acting like a counselor attentively listening to clients speak, give your ego the space to lament so it can be free.

When you start listening to you, you’ll begin to start really living your life creating miracles for yourself. Opportunities, people and events will open as you align with your true self working with the Divine. You’ll receive guidance and direction as you experience the fullness of life being true to yourself. Whether you are on or off track, you’ll see it and feel it giving you the chance to adjust accordingly.

Listen to you and hear the whispers of truth and inner wisdom deep in your core.  Feel it, own it and live it to be one with your mind, body and soul and live a life with purpose, magic and joy.

Photo by Miguel Bruna on Unsplash

The Power of Perseverance

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“With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable.”
 – Thomas Foxwell Buxton

Anything worth achieving is going to be hard. No doubt. To accomplish a goal that lights you up inside, requires hard work, dedication, practice, blood, sweat, tears, pain, sacrifice and perseverance. There’s no magic pill or fast track path to reach a significant goal. But the power of perseverance is key to making your dream a living, breathing reality.

It was a challenge earning all my black belts. My martial arts journey has been filled with setbacks, failures and disappointments. But with each setback and every obstacle, I got back on the mat and tried again and again. Every trophy, belt, technique and skill earned was the result of years of hard work, drive, determination and unwavering commitment no matter how hard the journey became.

All the pain, exhausting work and hard training was worth it to make my dreams come true. To keep going when times were tough built courage, optimism and resilience. Imagine if I gave up the first time I failed or come across an obstacle? Had I not persevered, I would not be the black belt I am today.

If you have a dream or a desire you want to achieve, let it inspire you and never give up. Ever. It’s vital to success. There will be times you’ll want to drop everything and say, “Forget it!”. But you must keep going forward and not back down. If you need to take a break, take a break. Go ahead and rest your weary soul. After you recover, get back up and go.

You’ll always regret quitting but never regret trying. Trying leads you somewhere. It may not be what you originally intended or visualized but it will lead you to a new destination. If you quit, you’ll end up nowhere with disappointment and lack of self-worth to gain.

Perseverance builds character to overcome adversity, deepens your integrity, develops humility, empowers your life and creates fierce, inner strength. By staying on your path, you’ll tap into your unlimited potential for greatness you never thought was possible.

When your path becomes challenging, and it will, lean into it. Embrace it. Accept it. Allow the joy and inspiration from your dream fuel your perseverance to carry you through. When you reach the peak of frustration, doubt and discouragement, know your breakthrough is on the other side.

Believe in yourself even when the odds are stacked up against you. The more you believe and trust, the more the odds will fall away. Be strong, diligent and focused on your mission under all conditions. Take it step by step, day by day, moment by moment. With each small step forward, you’ll get closer to your goal while staying in the game.

Perseverance means ignoring the naysayers, toxic people or well-intentioned family and friends who don’t agree with your path. Listen to yourself and no one else. You know what’s best for you and know what’s needs to be done to fulfill your goals and dreams. Don’t succumb to what others think and say but surrender to what you believe following the calling of your heart.

To fulfill a dream that drives you, inspires you and propels you forward with joy and passion requires perseverance. The power of perseverance is the key to success and putting your destiny in your own hands. Keep on keeping on to make all your dreams come true.

Photo by Xan Griffin on Unsplash

15 Ways To Develop Intuition

~ jodiheisz ~ 3 Comments

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“Intuition is seeing with the soul.”
–Dean Koontz

I love developing my intuition. I love it because it helps us communicate to one another at a deep and profound level. It creates a strong connection to our highest selves while opening the channels to hear and feel the Divine. Everyone is born intuitive because we are souls living in a physical body having a human experience. Intuition is the language of the soul and because we are souls, we all have intuition.

But what if you feel disconnected to your intuition? Or maybe you’ve been working on your intuition but want to develop it further. Or you’re in the beginning stages on your intuitive journey and don’t know where to start.

If you want to develop and grow your intuition, you need to practice by using it. It’s like a muscle. To make it grow stronger, you must train and exercise it every day. With consistent daily use of your intuition, you’ll understand how it works and how it works for you. You’ll see how it’s been working all this time but never realized it until you became conscious of it.

Here’s a list of 15 ways to develop your intuition. You don’t have to do all of them. Pick the ones you resonate with the most and ones to challenge you.

  1. Before you check your email in the morning, see if you know how many are in your inbox.
  2. See if you know who’s calling or texting you before you check to see who it is.
  3. Meditate daily. Five minutes minimum.
  4. Before meeting with a friend, try to “see” what color clothes they are wearing.
  5. When standing at an elevator, feel which doors will open first. Or if you are at the grocery store, feel which line is the fastest.
  6. Before going to work, try to feel what emotions your boss is having.
  7. Ask God a question. Grab a pen and paper. Write. Feel the answers coming from the top of your head through your hands on to the paper. Don’t edit. Just write. Allow the words and the answers to flow through you.
  8. Practice acting on your intuitive feelings and nudges you receive versus what your intellect tells you. The more you listen and act on your intuition, the stronger it gets and the more you trust.
  9. When choosing what to eat at a new restaurant, feel what meal is right for you. Order it and nothing else.
  10. Use your imagination to visualize your heart’s desire as already achieved. Be as detailed as you can using all your senses.
  11. Go for a walk outside and feel the energy of nature surrounding you. Try this at different times of the day to experience the natural flow of earth’s magic. Listen to the birds chirping and cars driving by. Look and see every detail of the trees, the clouds in the sky and the flowers along your path. Feel the breeze and the wind on your face.
  12. Be kind and gentle to yourself. Being too hard on yourself and negative thinking kills intuition. Self-love is the nectar feeding your intuition to grow and expand reaching a new level of consciousness.
  13. Eat whole foods on a plant-based diet. Fueling your body with nature’s goodness increases your vibration to receive guidance from the Divine.
  14. Before you meet someone new, try to see what they look like in your mind’s eye. Try to know their hair and eye color, facial features, body type and style of clothing.
  15. Open waking in the morning, take a few deep breaths. Visualize three things you want to accomplish in detail as if already accomplished. State each of your goals out loud with confidence.

These tips to charge your intuition are simple to integrate into your daily life. No need to mediate alone in a cave for thirty days, or spend lots of money on training to develop your intuition. Intuition is simple to add in your life because it’s a part of your soul. Your soul wants to connect deeper to your mind, body and the world around you. Using your intuition will always guide you in the right direction to help choose what’s in your highest good and create the best life filled with joy, magic, love and peace.

Photo by Sasha Freemind on Unsplash