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The Rise & Shine Blog

From Surviving to Thriving: How You Can Shift Out of Fight or Flight

Overcoming Childhood Trauma Often Starts with Escaping the Fight or Flight Response George and Betty’s doors were buttoned up tightly the day I stood on the side of my house metamorphosing into a twelve-year-old hustler. But smoke billowed from my neighbors’ chimney, so I knew they were home. They were my best option for getting…

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how to be more lovable by loving yourself

The Importance of Being Lovable

The Key to Being More Lovable Is Loving Yourself First Love is everything! It’s the common denominator of our existence—the energy that fuels us and the world around us. How do we attract more love? By being more lovable! Being lovable allows us to attract the type of love we desire. Whether it’s a romantic…

setting healthy boundaries in relationships

How to Set Healthy Boundaries in Relationships

Do you give too much and have trouble setting boundaries in relationships? Are you the friend who says yes to late night drinks even though you haven’t slept in a week and your Christmas decorations are still up in April? Do you make your husband a Bulletproof coffee with organic MCT oil and half a…

signed title page of You Can Heal Your Life, addressed to Karena Kilcoyne

The Power of Positive Affirmations

Embrace the Quick-Fix Power of Positive Affirmations We’re always looking for a quick fix, an easy way to make our lives more convenient. And in our technology based society, there’s an app to help us do just about everything. Apps that get you from here to there. Apps that convert currencies. There’s even an app…

Karena Kilcoyne

Rewriting Your Sex Story

His eyes were as dark as night. That should’ve been my sign to run the other direction–the windows to his soul shut tight, forbidding the light to shine in or out–but instead, I ran straight toward this long-time bachelor with my arms (and legs) wide open and my eyes wide shut.  This wasn’t my first…

How to Go From Day-Job to Dream-Job

You may not know this about me, but I used to be a lawyer. Well, I still am a lawyer, but I don’t practice anymore. But there was a time when all I wanted to do was defend criminals. Not because I had a warm and fuzzy for lawlessness. Actually, it was the opposite: I…

The Body Image Checkup: How to Love Yourself More

For those of you who have been reading along over the past few months, you know that when I was twelve my dad went to prison. You also know that my Christian school wasn’t too fond of my dad being a criminal. They didn’t believe that the daughter of a felon should be the valedictorian,…

And We’ll Have Fun, Fun, Fun ‘Til…

Lately my husband David and I have just been co-existing. We’re walking around the house like co-workers. Like roommates. Like people who have too much to do. We both woke up at 4:30 a.m. recently and couldn’t fall back to sleep. Truth be told, it was more me nudging him and prodding, “Are you awake?…

The Breathwork Exercise That Changed My Life

“What are you looking to release?” the spiritual guide asked. “I’ve had an overwhelming fear of abandonment for as long as I can remember.” She scribbled on her notepaper. “And?” I wanted to say: And, my dog’s dying, and it’s almost the twentieth anniversary of my mom dying, who by the way, I never grieved…

The Great Untangling: The Next Step in Freeing Yourself From Old, Limiting Stories

After months of surveilling our house, the F.B.I. got a warrant for Dad’s arrest. Perhaps Dad knew, which is why he left town a day before they showed up looking for him. When the feds realized Dad had skipped town, they splashed his photo across the local news, along with heavy words like “wanted” and…

You Don’t Need a New You—You Just Need You

It’s that time of the year again when we’re force fed the idea that we need to be better. Different. Thinner. Stronger. Smarter. We need to work harder. Sleep better. Drink Less. Drink more. Give up bread. Have more sex. Do more yoga. Quit snoring. Turn our phones off. Read more. Do less. Do more….

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