Healthy Vibes with Kelley Ranaudo

This episode is an interview with Jennifer Pressimone. This conversation is filled with a wealth of information. We discuss the role of our gut, circadian rhythms and patterns, and how it can affect our mind, anxiety, depression, sleep, stress levels and more. Her story and knowledge will blow you away. I learned so much during this conversation and you will too.

She is a Certified Clinical Aromatherapy & Herbal Educator at JennScents Aromaversity, author, product formulator & owner at JennScents, Inc. She empowers health & wellness professionals with clinical aromatherapy certifications and specialty training courses. JennScents Aromaversity is a NAHA Level 1, 2 & 3 & NCBTMB approved school. Jennifer holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Central Florida, numerous natural health certifications, and is a Diploma in Spiritual Phyto-Essencing for deep emotional healing. She serves as the current Vice President and Central Florida Regional Director for the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA.org). Jennifer has a passion for empowering others with knowledge, inspiration & encouragement to foster mind, body, spirit & soul balance. Inspired by her own health journey, she has dedicated the past 2-decades to exploring, expanding & evolving aromatherapy practices for mental & emotional health. Her passion and heart shines through in her teaching and mentoring with the next generation of aromatic colleagues.

Check out Jennifer’s websites for oil blends, education, and more:
JennScents Aromatherapy
JennScents Aromaversity

Challenge: Open your mind to alternatives this week. What is going on in your life that you feel helpless? Too many times we hear that “this” is the only thing that works, or that maybe we have tried it “all”. It is time to keep looking for answers. There is always another option to try.

In today’s society, we seem to keep going, keep pushing, keep rushing, and what really matters to us can easily pass us by. This conversation is permission to slow down, and embrace what is right in front of you, what really matters, and learn to let so many things go.

Challenge: Take extra time to pause and sit in silence this week.

Resource: Daily Surrender Journal

This is an encouraging conversation about prayer, keeping God close in our day to day life, our teen’s faith, and more. It was so good to sit down with Freyda Smith, who is a friend and fellow mom that always encourages and steers me straight to God.

She lives in Winter Garden, FL with her husband of 20 years, and their three children 18,16, and 11. She is a licensed Realtor, and has been practicing for 18 years. When she isn’t running the children to and from school, you can find her on a ball field cheering her kids’ baseball, or softball teams. Her children attend a local Christian school and she stays active there as well as leading Moms In Prayer. She thrives on having God at the center of everything she does, so she feels balanced and finds great peace attending church, finding a safe place with her Bible study group of 11 years, and committing to show up with her workout group of 7 years.

From Freyda, “God called me to Moms In Prayer. No doubt about it. I was searching for something to encourage other moms at school. I have an amazing group of moms I’ve been doing bible study with for 8 years and I met other moms that I knew could really benefit from that same type of community fellowship. I shared this with a school/baseball mom/friend who had just recently moved to Maitland and her kids were now enrolled at Orangewood Christian. She invited me to attend their MIP meeting and that summer I spoke with our elementary school principal and by the fall we had the green light to begin meeting at First Baptist Church in Winter Garden’s basement. So many women hungry for fellowship came and they all had the same goal, to trade in their fear and anxiety about their children for the freedom that comes from prayers covered by the blood of Jesus.

I came to have a personal relationship with Jesus at about the age of 9. My family moved to Florida from Puerto Rico and our neighbors at the time invited us to church. This small act set ablaze in my heart a fire for God and it spread to my entire nuclear family. We’ve all been Christ followers since then and I pray to ensure that legacy of Christ-followers for generations to come.”

Challenge: Use one of Freyda’s tips this week to spend more time this week with God.

Books we talked about:
Out of My Mind, by Sharon M. Draper
Quiet, by Susan Cain
The Truth About Us, by Brant Hansen

Let’s not shy away from being bold in all of our roles as parents, christians, prayer warriors, and neighbors. Let us share God’s love. Parent our kids to be really good humans. Help our neighbors in need. Love fiercely. Whatever it is you are going out to do this week, live boldly and live like it matters.

Challenge: Live boldly in the small areas as well as the big areas of your life this week.

Yes, we could have a big purpose in life, but I also believe each day, and season, we could have a different purpose, or even multiple purposes. Let us slow down enough to hear God’s whispers and where we are needed today, and let us be open to hearing where we can make a difference in today.

Challenge: Be open to what your purpose just this week might be.e. Be prepared with ways to stay calm.

It is too easy to ride the wave of stress, anxiousness, and aggravation. It is too easy to overreact, rather than stay calm. Once we become intentional about our situations, our reactions, and letting go of the need to control the situation, we can find more peace. Let’s start paying attention this week to what is trying to get us frustrated and stressed. Choose not to participate.

Challenge: This week pay attention to what tries to steal your peace. Be prepared with ways to stay calm.

We will experience a lot of pain in our life, and suffering as well. But many times, continuing to suffer is a choice. We have to choose to get out of it. So many of us choose to stay comfortable with whatever is holding us back, making us moody, or unhealthy. Let us become aware of where we make a different choice, deepen our relationship with God, trust Him and make better choices moving forward.

Challenge: What is something that you are choosing to suffer in?

Resource: Ed Mylett podcast: How to Attain TOTAL Freedom

Decisions become clearer and easier when we base them on what matters most to us. Take time to pause, and think about your values, before all of your choices. Let Your Choices Bring You Closer to God. I find that my best choices, the choices that lead me, and my family, closer to God, closer to each other, and to our best selves, are quite often inconvenient, unpopular, hard and sometimes feel lonely in the short-term. I usually know in my heart that it is the best choice. Once we get through the challenge and all the feelings, there is a sense of peace eventually, that we made the right choice. The choices that are best for our future, are usually the most challenging to make right now, but will bring us the reward we are craving, and a true feeling of content later.

Boundaries are healthy and good, not for others, but for ourselves, to help us use our time and energy on what matters most. Start, little by little, protecting your time and energy. Give yourself permission and grace along the way. Open your time up to what matters most to you.

Challenge: Work on at least one boundary this week to give yourself more time.

Podcast: Ed Mylett Podcast with Tim Tebow
YouTube: Ed Mylett Podcast with Tim Tebow

Let us get honest with ourselves and decide if we are truly feeling joy and happiness, and if it is easy, or hard, to be kind. If we are struggling, let us do the hard things and work on ourselves so that we can truly feel joy, love, and kindness.